Turning over a new Leaf
by lil' white Raven
Summary: When Skye is murdered in NewBarkTown, her dream of being a Trainer is crushed. So when Celebi and Mew offer her a new life she grabs it; only she didn't expect to be reborn as a Chikorita or be caught by a thief. FullSummaryInside. No OC/Gold or Silver
1. Chapter 1

Turning over a new leaf.

**Summary:** _When 16 year old Skye Royall is murdered in the back alley of a street, her dreams and ambitions of being a powerful pokemon master are crushed and doomed to failure. (Well, she is dead...)  
So when Mew and Celebi appear and ask if Skye wants another change at life in order to be with her human friends, she takes it without a second thought.  
What she didn't expect was to be newborn as a Chikorita, get captured by a cute red-headed thief and his even cuter Totodile, to find out her cousin who she wants to protect is hunting the red-head and is completely bi, her best friend to be such an awesome trainer or to have to relearn how to use the internet with paws.  
Did I mention how cute that thief and the Totodile are?_

_**Author's Note**__: The world I am using is based on the anime world with a few subtle differences. Gold, Silver and Sophia are based loosely on Gold, Silver and Crystal from the manga, but only share the appearance of said characters. Relationships, history and personalities within the story may be completely different.  
Also, please don't stop reading until you get to the end of chapter 2. Chapter 1 is extra depressing compared to most of the fic so please don't use it to judge the rest of it._

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**Chapter 1:**__**The afterlife stinks.**

You know, death is kinda different from what most people expect. Most people think death is the time people meet their maker; go to heaven or hell and all that stuff.  
Well, that didn't happen to me. After I died, it was just black. Nothing. Sometimes things would shimmer around a little and make me feel dizzy, but it was pretty much just...boring.

There was just nothing and for some reason my brain/thoughts were always foggy. Even making up stories and pretending I had something to do, was boring. I really hated it there.  
And then Mew showed up and everything started again...

************

Perhaps I should start at the beginning.

My name is, or in this case was, Skye Royall. I was a 16 teen-year old with a really happy, normal life. I had parents who loved me, best friends and a cousin/almost twin I'd give my life for, and I lived in a stable home.

An almost perfect life, huh?

Anyway, that day I was visiting Sophia (a.k.a Soppie), my closest and oldest friend. We didn't do much other than sit and talk a little, but that was what we always did.

That day we talked about our future pokemon.

"Well I'm starting out with Chikorita, of course. I've told you that how many times now?" Soppie laughed as I gave her my mock scowl then glanced towards the ground.

"I know what you want, Skye. I just want a pokemon I can be friends with. Gold said yesterday that being close to your pokemon is the most important thing. He wasn't lying, was he?"

Shaking my head, I grinned. "Wow, so my cousin actually uses his brain. Yet another mystery of the universe is solved!" Soppie giggled as I thought of my mad cousin.

Gold, Sophia and I had been friends for practically our whole lives.  
Gold, my cousin, was born less than a week after me and the both of us regarded the other as our twin. Sophia, we met in kindergarten.  
Some boys had been picking on her, and while Gold rushed to help her to her feet, I took great pleasure in beating those boys to a pulp.

It really was amazing how close we were, despite how different we were from each other.

Gold was vain, good-looking, a brilliant actor and could be really selfish sometimes, but deep down was a noble and caring person who I was always worried would get into something way over his head. His goal was to be a pokemon master.  
Sophia was a quiet and gentle girl with sky-blue eyes, who mostly just wanted to always be around people she cared about. Sometimes people would think Soppie was being snobbish when she wouldn't talk to them, but the reality was that she was just shy. She wanted to be a coordinator.  
And as for me... Well... I just wanted to own a pokemon, fight battles, enter contests; anything pokemon-related and I'd be happy. Other than that, I just liked drawing and writing. I'm simple really.

After the end of the month the three of us would be leaving on our pokemon journey together, and truth was, I couldn't wait.__

As I sat there grinning to myself, Soppie shot out of her chair and pointed at the clock.

"Oh damn. Skye, its 5:48! Didn't you say you had be back home by 6?" Taking a look at the same clock, I grabbed my backpack and jumped to my feet. Turning, I cooed my goodbyes in Yoshi language (Please don't ask!) and hopped out the door as Soppie waved goodbye.

I look back now and wish I'd said good bye properly.

As I walked through the small streets of New Bark Town the sun began to sink behind the horizon and I quickly rushed toward the supermarket to get food for the family pets, Taps the Poochyena, Nutmeg the Glameow, Makenshi the Lopunny and Cassie the Shinx.  
(My mum was originally from Sinnoh.)

Anyway, I was just about to enter the store when a sudden stabbing pain worse than anything I had ever felt before, ripped through my back and chest.  
Suddenly feeling as though my limbs were made of lead, I forced myself to look down at the knife that was sticking through my breast bone. There was a strange chuckle from behind me and then the blade was pulled out my body and everything went black.

***************

As I said before, nothing but black with no sky, earth or anything is a really boring place. Truth is, I have no idea how long I was there, but it really felt like forever.

Damn, whoever said living in a world with no chaos was good! No chaos means nothing **ever** changes! Not EVER! Do you have any idea how frustrating that is when you're stuck there?!

...Sorry about that. Even just remembering that place makes me upset.  
Of course I wasn't bored straight away. When I first arrived in that empty place I was mostly scared.

First of all, I was dead. Second, I had been murdered.  
But worse by far was the third thing. I was so completely alone. It felt more like everyone I knew had died and disappeared rather than me, and either way I hated it.

I hated it so much I refused to believe it. Then after god knows how long, reality sunk in and I began crying, screaming; the works.

Then I got too tired to cry any longer and even the blank nothingness disappeared.

****************

**Gold pov.**

It was dark and cold inside that dream. Nothing moved, and while there were no threatening sounds or anything, but somehow I felt terrified. Suddenly there was a flash of warm light and a sharp pain stabbed through my head and forced me awake.

Gasping for air and clutching my blanket in my hands, I gazed around the room in a daze.  
I'd say my room but it isn't. I'm actually at my cousin Skye's house. Normally I don't visit that much (cause the place is filled with junk and their Poochyena is continuously high), or sleep during all day hours, but my mum is currently overseas trying to get more customers for her and Aunt Mandy's (Skye's mum) art work shop, and since I've been performing in a lot of late night plays lately, Aunt Mandy thought it might be better if I stayed at her house for while.

Stretching my limbs so that I could actually move, I looked over to the bookcase and felt my chest ache.

The chest pain wasn't from the usual hay fever I get this time of year; it was more because of that damn dream.  
I should explain? Umm...alright then.

Well, you see, ever since I was young, me and my cousin Skye have had this really weird sort of bond.  
Whenever one of us is hurt or really stressed about something, no matter how far away we are, we can tell. Or it's more like we feel it.

I know what you're thinking now; this guy's a freak with a creepy cousin complex or something, right? Well the fact is I'm telling the truth.

When I was 5 and broke my arm, Skye on the other side of town screamed and started crying. When Skye almost fainted from her first period pains (Yes, I know that's gross. I don't like talking about it either.) I **felt** the cramps. (Which by the way, really fucking sucks! I'm a guy! I don't need any more hormone problems than I already have!)  
And when we started going to different schools, I always phoned whenever I thought Skye was feeling upset and I always found out that I had been completely right.

It sounds weird and it is, but that's the way we've always been. Maybe it comes from being born so close together or maybe 'cause we're both crazy, but I **know** when my cousin is not feeling wonderful. And that dream was still stabbing at my chest. I was just hoping she didn't have a heart attack or something.

Finally I got to my feet and staggered out of the room and walked down the stairs. About half way down, the pain suddenly stopped and suddenly I felt all warm and cosy.

Honestly, what was that girl doing? You can't just go from being in agony to being all warm and fuzzy feeling. Unless of course you're in love or something. Maybe she finally told that old crush of hers how she felt? Was he even in town?

Chuckling at the thought, I walked into the kitchen where Aunt Mandy and Bru (Skye's dad) were sitting and pulled out a chair and beamed up at them cheerfully.

"Hey Uncle Bru! I didn't know you'd be coming home early! Did the Library get set on fire by a new trainer's pokemon again?" I was still grinning ear to ear until I saw my Auntie's face.

Now, before I go any further, I have to clear something up.  
While I do love my blood mother and father with all my heart, my Aunt Mandy has always been like a second mom to me.  
Where as my mother was always off doing office work and my dad was off at the construction site in Olivevine City, Aunt Mandy and Uncle Bru would always take care of me and Skye. Uncle Bru worked in the Library in Cheerygrove City so we were often left with Aunt Mandy. And because of this, I know that Aunty Mandy **never** looked sadder than she did right then.  
Glancing up at Uncle Bru, I felt a chill shudder through me as I saw the gentle man's face covered in tears.

"Gold..."Seeing my confused face, Aunt Mandy placed a hand on my shoulder and wiped tears away from her face.

"Gold...We were going to wait till later till we told you but... We just got a call from the police... They found Skye's body next to the pokemart a few minutes ago... She's dead."

My eyes widened with shock as I felt my whole body go numb.

"Wha...but... _How..?_" My voice cracked as I began to shake. Uncle Bru continued to stare into space as Mandy looked down at me.

"They said she was stabbed. Probably from behind. They asked if we knew who would have seen her last... I told Sophia and Grey over the phone and...I..." I watched as Aunt Mandy began to sob.

Soon all of the family's pokemon joined in and I found myself staring blankly out the window. Nutmeg, Skye's favourite Glameow walked over and rubbed her head my legs.  
Picking her up and placing her on my lap, I felt tears begin to run down my face as I held the unusually caring pokemon close to me.

"She was murdered... _Why? _How come I couldn't tell? Why couldn't I have warned someone in time to save her?!" Hearing what I whispered through my jiggered sobbing, Nutmeg licked me softly on the cheek and looked into my eyes determinedly. Instantly, I understood what she meant.

"You're right. Maybe I couldn't tell, but at the very least I can find the one who did it. You want to help?" Nutmeg nodded then rubbed her head against mine; a sign of our pact.

I stroked the wonderful creature before glancing back out the window; a new determination surging through me.

No matter what, I would still be going on my pokemon journey. But instead of simply only aiming for the pokemon league, I was going to be doing something far more important.

I was going to find my best friend's killer.

*****************************************

Side notes:

**Gold: **  
Pokemon seen so far: 4  
Pokemon owned: 1  
Party Pokemon: Nutmeg the Glameow: Lv. 20  
Badges: zero.


	2. Chp2 Eggs are warm Teeth are cold

_**Author's note: Now that we've gotten past the super sad stuff, let's move onto nicer things. Note: If Skye's/Chi's personality seems inconsistent, I just want you guys to know that she has the attention span of a gnat. She's inconsistent by her very nature so please! Don't get mad!  
Thanks for reading!**_

**Chapter 2: **_**Warm egg and Cold teeth.**_

**Skye pov.**

Ok. By this point I'm sure all of you here know I hate the nothingness and that I was stuck there for way too long. (5 seconds is too long!)

Well, you're lucky because I'm going to stop talking about it soon.

Well, I have no idea how long it actually was, but around the time I was so out of it I was beginning to forget who I was, two flashes of bright light began to circle around me.

At this point, anything (and I mean ANYTHING) that was not nothingness was amazingly interesting to me and I stared blankly as the two lights began to form shapes.

The first light was small and pink and was slowly forming into a cute, funny looking cat. The other light was green and was changing into this weird cute plant-fairy thing. For some reason none of this seemed strange to me and I clapped and giggled as the two became solid looking. (I strongly believe being in the nothingness is like being stoned. Your brain turns to mush after a while.)

Immediately the small green one looked at me and glared.

"Human, why are you laughing? Do you think that just because I am a fairy-like pokemon that I am your personal entertainment? Or that I'm gay, perhaps?! WELL?!" My eyes widened as my mind suddenly seemed to wake up and scream at me that I was looking at two legendary pokemon who were infamous for helping those in the realm of the dead.

"Oh my god! You guys are real! I thought I was dreaming again!" I tried not to panic as reality sank all the way through my thick skull.  
"Oh crap. That means I really am dead, aren't I?! And I'm going to be stuck in this horrible place forever! And I just pissed off a Legendary?!"

The cat, Mew drifted over to me and laughed as I flopped to the ground in despair. Glaring again (though this time at Mew) Celebi flew over and smashed his fist into the pink cat's face.

"Don't laugh you inconsiderate prick! It's your fault we're late!"

Rubbing his/her hands together (I really can't tell with Mew. His psychic voice always reminds me of a transvestite) the pink feline giggled cheerfully and floated over towards me.

"Sorry about that... This isn't where you were meant to be. This isn't exactly the afterlife. You're actually at the docking station; you know? The 'in-between' place? The 'no-go' zone? I was supposed to pick you up a while ago, but one of my clone-brothers got shot again and then I overdosed on sugar as reward for being so awesomely me, so I was a little late..."

I nodded slowly. At this point, I didn't care what they were talking about. As long as I didn't have to go back to concentrating on nothingness again.

"So anyway, we're here to offer you a life-changing experience, Miss Skye Royall!" My eyes jolted open again as I heard my name.

My name... It may not seem like much, but it felt so weird to hear it again after so much nothing. It's like being called by a nickname you haven't heard in years; it can either make you really happy someone knows it, or you don't even register that they're talking to you.

Ignoring my weird expressions, Mew flipped in the air and posed before continuing.

"We, the great psychic legendaries of old are offering you a choice! Do you, like most humans wish to forget the cruel ways of the old world and go to the next world, or do you wish to go through trials and tribulations in order to save those precious to you and in doing so, save the world as we know it from tears and sadness, doom and gloom and from strawberry-flavoured jelly-o!?!"

"What..?"

Celebi sighed at Mew's insanity (which was slowly pushing him over the edge...) and shoved him to the side in order to explain.

"Sorry...he's still sugar high right now. What my _**colleague**_ meant to say is, do you want to go to the afterlife or do you want to go back to the world you came from? Most humans automatically go to the afterlife but since you're here we have to ask."

I blinked blankly for a moment before raising my hand. Celebi gave me a weird look.

"What are you doing..?"

"Umm...I wanted to ask... Do you mean you're going to bring me back to life, or are you going to make me reincarnate and forget everything I knew before?"

Mew, having recovered from being shoved, giggled and began somersaulting in mid-air again.

"Good question little human thingy~ You know, most people don't even bother asking. They're all so incredibly dull~" Floating towards me, the cat's eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Truth is, we want to have you reincarnate into a new life but with all your memories, ka-pish-zadanaga-bing?"

As I tried to figure out what the hell 'ka-pish-zadanaga-bing' was meant to mean, Celebi fluttered his little wings and shrugged.

"Of course there are conditions, such as never using writing to tell any human of your past life until we give the go ahead and/or having to do a few 'jobs' for us along the way, but none of that should be too hard. You might have a bit of trouble adjusting in the beginning but you'll get the hang of it. Of course, you can still say no. "

"But we really, really, really want you to say yes!" Mew hijacked the conversation as he grabbed onto his tail and started to use it as a skipping rope.  
"And don't worry! When Cele-fairy said 'jobs' he didn't mean anything gang land or mafia related. He just meant being nice to someone or being heroic and stuff. Nothing criminal, honest! You do stuff and you'll even get jelly-o!"

As Celebi shook with barely suppressed rage and Mew looked up at him with a manic sort of innocence, I couldn't help but giggle. Immediately the two pokemon's gazes fixed on me.

"I'm sorry. It's just you guys are so different. It's funny! But... if I'm going to be reincarnated, why would I be forbidden to tell someone in writing? Couldn't I just tell them in person?"

Instantly Celebi's eyes seemed to cloud over as Mew continued to grin blissfully.

"Sure, if they understand you. So are you saying yes?"

"Yeah, but why wouldn't they under-?"

"SHE SAID YES!!! Alright! Reincarnation here we come! Bo-yeah Obama! I win the bet by 1000 points!" Mew shot around like a rubber ball in a pinball machine for a moment and latched onto my hand as his body beginning to glow again. Fearing the worst, I instantly shouted out the question I had to know more than anything.

"Wait! Will I meet people I knew before?! Am I allowed to meet them?! Please tell me!"

Celebi nodded sagely as he too began to glow, his warm green light much more soothing than Mew's explosive pink.

"Yes, of course you can. I promise you that you will encounter them. Just... remember to always try your best."

Nodding in agreement, my vision went black as energy began to flow around me. I felt myself grin.

I was going to see them all again~

* * *

The first thing I noticed when I 'woke up' was how very warm I was.

Now this might seem a little strange, but unlike being in the nothingness, being in an egg (I didn't know I was in an egg back then) is a wonderful feeling.  
Everything around you soft and warm, while the egg shell itself makes you feel secure and protected. Food, or the egg yolk is right next to you, and you know the minute you see/feel it, that it will give you the strength you need to grow up.

Now for a random fact!  
I'm sure plenty of you think that all pokemon lay eggs and that this is weird because many pokemon are mammals, right?  
Well the truth is, not all pokemon lay eggs. Glameow, Meowth and Pikachu are just a few of the pokemon that have the ability to have eggs or live birth should they decide to. Either choice has its advantages, and truth is I'm really glad I came out of an egg. The rejection I might have felt was a lot less.

Anyway, soon after I woke up, all my yoke supplies were finished. At first I didn't mind, but soon I felt uneasy and restless. I started lashing around with my limbs and was rewarded with a blast of cold air as my leg kicked through the egg shell. Shocked by the sudden cold I thrashed even more, and soon my egg completely shattered.

Forcing my eyes to open, I realised for the first time that I had actually been in an egg. And that baby (or adult) humans did **not** come out of eggs.

Finally my eyes began to focus and I stared as everything around me glowed with colour.

Now, we as humans are always told we have good eyes compared to most pokemon, with the exception of a few bird and bug pokemon.  
Well, I can tell you right now, whatever I was had damn good eyesight. Even when I had been human, my eyes had never been that good with colours and now my entire world was swimming with the blasted things.

The second thing I realised was that there was no one around.

Whether you are a pokemon, human or even a legendary, when you are a baby and there is no one around to care for you, it is one of the scariest things on this earth.  
So being the maturely minded and intelligent person I am, I began to cry, scream and wail at the top of lungs.  
When nothing happened afterwards for about an hour, even my little body agreed that this wasn't working and I slumped to the ground and started thinking murderous thoughts stupid legendaries, who abandoned the people that they had promised to help.

Suddenly there was a rustle in the bushes next to me and my heart began to pound with terror when I realised I didn't know what species I was yet.

_What if whatever it is, wants to eat me? What if I'm a Rattata or a Pidgy or something that can't move without a parent teaching it? Why was I so stupid and made all that noise?_

Kicking these thoughts to the back of my head I tried to stand as the rustling drew closer. My heart began to beat faster as I tripped and fell on my face.

However, my nerves began to calm as a concerned voice called out to me.

"Hello? Is someone there? I thought I heard someone crying." My eyes bulged as a huge Ursaring walked into the clearing.

_No. Scrap that 'I'm calm' part. Now, I'm really scared!!!_

Instinctively, I tried to get up and run, but I tripped on own legs again and slammed into the ground. I yelped as a piece of rock grazed my left hind leg.

Instantly, the Ursaring swung to face me. Helpless, I placed my paws/feet over my head and whimpered.

"Please don't eat me sir. I...don't taste good. ...I think. Actually I don't know, but I really don't want to find out..." I cringed as I heard myself babble.

_Sure, it was pathetic... but I'm a baby right now. I'm allowed to be pathetic!_

A loud chuckle snapped me out of my internal monologue. Glancing up slowly, I flinched as the Ursaring sat down next to me, then bent over and smiled.

"Don't worry little one. I won't eat you. You're too small to even be a snack. What's a little one like you doing all on your own in the forest without your family?"

I felt myself shake as big blobby tears ran down my face.

"I don't know sir... I just hatched from my egg and no one was around... so I cried...but no one came and I can't walk yet." Still shaking, I glanced up at the Ursaring and smiled weakly.

"I'm still so little I don't even know what I am yet. I don't know whether I should be on two legs, four legs or flying... Who knows...Maybe I'm a fish?"

Hearing the change in my voice from fear to curiosity, the bear laughed heartily. Instantly all of my left over fear vanished.

"Well little one, you'd be a mighty odd fish with such a beautiful long leaf like yours on your head. You, little one are what is known as a Chikorita. A fuzzy one too; very rare."

My eyes widened as the big beast patted my head leaf to prove his point. Now I couldn't help but smile with happiness.

I was a Chikorita! A wonderful Chikorita! And I was the kind with fur!

While most people are familiar with the common Chikorita which are covered in tiny silky-feeling scales, there is in fact a rare breed of Chikorita with soft fuzzy fur. Chikorita with fur adapt far better in cold than normal Chikorita but are even more vulnerable to fire than normal.  
And I was fine with that. Far more pokemon learn ice attacks than fire.

Seeing my smile, the Ursaring beamed.

"I'm glad you are happy with what you are, little one, but shouldn't you be learning how to walk?"

Knowing he had realised I'd forgotten all about that, I blushed and tried to use my four legs to push myself off the ground. Instantly they wobbled and I found myself back on the dirt.

"Try spreading your legs out more little one. Right now you are holding them too close together. Four legged ones should be more concerned with balance than power."

Nodding to show I understood his advice, I looked down as I stood and made sure I wasn't keeping my legs too close together.

"Good little one. You are standing more balanced now. Now try to move your legs forward; one at a time."

Following the bear's advice I carefully moved each of my legs forward, one by one. I managed to trip a few times but soon I found myself walking automatically. I then tried to run and fell flat onto my face.

"Silly little one. You have to be more patient. Your limbs are still too uncoordinated to run yet. You have to practice a bit more first. But first we must eat!" I jumped with surprise as the bear pulled a handful of oran berries from out of nowhere and offered them to me.

"How did you do that? That was really cool!" As we ate, I soon learned more about my new surrogate father.

Papa Bear, which was his actual name, was given that name by a little human girl who he had protected from a horde of wild Beedrill, and he was so fond of the name he kept it. Papa was firmly against eating pokemon meat and much preferred the honey and oran berries that could be found throughout the forest. Humans were also off the menu.  
But by far the strangest thing about Papa was that the forest where he lived (this one) was less than a few miles away from Violet City. His home cave was so close to the Dark cave that sometimes young pokemon trainers got confused and entered his by mistake.

Of course, most of them took one look at the giant Ursaring and ran for the hills, but it did get annoying sometimes. Oh well. At least I got battle training.

I'm not entirely sure how long I spent with Papa Bear but it was around the 3rd month I think that Papa asked me if I had a name.

"A name? I thought you were happy just calling me little one." I shook my head and leaf roughly to shake off the spring water I had been rinsing myself in.

Papa Bear looked at me curiously then smiled; an action I now know was a sign he found my reaction odd.

"Little one is the name I call you by, but what is the name you want others to know you as? It would be rather funny if you were still known as little one when you are fully grown and evolved."

I laughed in agreement for a moment then paused.

What was I going to be called? Before, when I was human, I was Skye but now I was living a new life. Surely it would be better if I had a new name to go with it.

A sudden giggle escaped my throat as the perfect name sprung to mind.

_Of course! It's perfect! I always wanted to give a girl Chikorita this name, and I'm a girl Chikorita now so..._

"Papa, my name is Chigusa! It means 'field of flowers' in a human language far, far away. So...do you like it?" I looked up at the Ursaring nervously.

Truth is that to me, that Ursaring is just as important as my human parents and even years later I'm still sure that I'd still be unable to stand the idea of Papa being disappointed in me.

Luckily Papa Bear is probably the nicest Ursaring in the whole world.

"Chi-gu-sa? How funny that little one's name is so close to her species name. Still it is a good name. May this old one call you 'little Chi'?"

The newly dubbed 'Chi' grinned and jumped onto the bear's shoulder and gave him the closest thing she could to a hug.

* * *

It was shortly after I got my new name, that Papa encouraged me to go off and see the world. I must admit, it wasn't that hard to get me to leave (I did miss out on my pokemon journey, you know.) but the look on Papa's face as I walked out of the cave that morning almost made me stop.

"Umm...Papa, are you sure you want me to leave? Will you be alright by yourself? I can stay here, you know. It's not like I have to go anywhere in a hurry." My huge stormy blue-eyes felt watery as the Ursaring gave a smile that was both happy and very sad.

"Of course you have to travel, little Chi. I knew it the minute I saw you for the first time. Little Chi has many things she needs to do in her life and keeping an old one company is not one of them. Perhaps little Chi will travel with humans and evolve into a mighty warrior or will travel with other pokemon and see incredible things. This old one doesn't want to keep his little Chi away from the world that she so desperately wants to see."

That did it. I can't argue with what sounded like an old warrior's last speech.

I giggled as tears ran down my cheeks. Extending one of my Vine Whips (You have no idea how lucky I am to be a Chikorita born with that move) I wrapped it around Papa's forepaw and smiled.

"Thank you Papa. I've been wanting to be on the move go ever since I hatched but back then I really wasn't ready. Thanks to you, I know where food grows and how to defend myself, how to read poke runes and even how to walk! So... I promise you Papa! No matter how far I go, even if I get captured by human, whatever happens, I'll visit you whenever I can! So don't be too lonely without me, ok?" The Ursaring nodded as I squeezed his paw once more and set off on my travels.

I think both of us were trying to ignore the tears that were dripping down our muzzles.

* * *

"I love berries~ Bright blue berries~  
Berries so yummy that I love to share~  
Maybe if I pick some, then find a place to eat some,  
And we'll all will be happy when we pass them round~"As I padded through the forest, this was the song I sang repeatedly ever since Papa's cave had faded out of view.

Now I **know** the song is stupid. I made it up so it was guaranteed to be stupid, but when you are a pokemon there is just so much more freedom to just be yourself than when you are a human. I had only just recently found this out, but already the sudden power of complete freedom had rushed to my head and I was now singing stupid songs one after the other and ignoring the jeers of annoyance from some of the local Hoothoot.

On my back, using my vines to hold them in place, were berries that Papa had collected for me before I set off. The sun above me was bright and giving me plenty of energy and everything around me just felt wonderful. (I love being a plant~)  
Truth is it's at moments like these I completely forget that the rest of the world exists.

Which is the reason why I was completely helpless when I was ambushed in the next clearing.

"Raven, quickly use your scratch attack!" A male human voice made me jump just seconds before sharp thick claws thudded into my side.

Snarling and quickly placing my berries to the side (well... Papa gave them to me and I didn't want to waste them...) I spun around the face the trainer and pokemon that had dared to ruin my happy time!

"Interesting... Raven's scratch did barely anything... Must have a high defence." A thin pale-skinned boy with bright red hair watched me closely as he held a pokeball one hand and a pokedex in the other. A lean well-trained looking Totodile stood next to him warily, his claws held ready in case of any sneak attacks from me.

Now normally, I wouldn't have minded if a trainer wanted to catch me. I was a Chikorita, an extremely rare pokemon in the wild, and even though my dream of ever being any sort of pokemon trainer had been completely ruined when I had died, that didn't mean I wasn't interested in being on the winning team of a good one.

But this bastard had made a disastrous mistake.  
THAT STUPID BASTARD HAD RUINED MY PERIOUS HAPPY TIME SINGING IN THE SUN!  
He and that wicked, evil, black-hearted, jerk-butt of a Totodile (I tend to exaggerate when I'm upset) had ruined my nice happy day and had slashed me down the side, which bloody '#$%'ing hurt!

"Raven, time to use Ice Fang. Go for the side again so we can end this quickly." The red-haired trainer ordered coldly as he continued to monitor my movements.

At the sound of his trainer's voice, the Totodile sprung into action and charged at me with incredible speed, his teeth already coated in ice.

Deciding I needed to get out of the way fast, I shot out one of my vines and grinned as it latched onto a thick sturdy tree branch.

Quickly I started retracting my vine and grinned as the Totodile, instead of bitting me, found himself biting into a thick pile of leaves.

"Sorry about that, but I can't just let you bite me. If you and your trainer really want me that much, you're gonna have to earn it~" I sung the last part out as I got ready to fling a Razor leaf attack out towards the Totodile who had been completely stunned at the sight of a Chikorita flying through the air.

"Quick Raven, she's using a Razor leaf. Use Ice Beam to counter!" My blood ran cold for a moment as the red-headed trainer's commands were issued.  
Using my other vine, I pulled myself in the opposite direction as a full powered Ice Beam blasted through the air to where I had been just seconds before, and had in the process taken out all of my razor leaves.

I glanced away from my near miss and narrowed my eyes as the trainer moved in closer, in order not to let me or the Totodile out of his sight.

_Damn, this one's good. Not like the little kids back at Papa's cave._ I thought as I dodged another Ice beam. _The Totodile isn't that bad either. _I gripped yet another tree branch as the Totodile paused to charge up energy.

"Quickly, use Ice beam on the vine!" The trainer's voice sounded out, and I yelped with pain as the Totodile's Ice beam froze my vine to the tree.

"Now hit her with Ice Fang while she's suck!" As the Totodile lunged towards me, I grimaced and used my other vine to smash the first free of ice, then using both of them I shoved myself away from the tree as hard as I could.

"Oh crap! At that height, she's gonna smash her skull! I can't watch!" Ignoring the Totodile's yelping, I pulled my vines back then pushed them against the ground; I winced from the impact.  
Then using all the strength I could, I willed my vines to push me away from the ground and found myself flying forwards past the nearest trees.

I then slammed head first into the ground.

"Owwie... That **really** hurt." I rubbed my skull gingerly with one of my front paws and glanced back towards the clearing.

"Good. No sign of the enemy. Mission complete! ...Now I guess I'll have to hide until that guy leaves so I can get my berries back!"

As I hummed to celebrate my victory, I had failed to take note of one critical factor.

I forgot to look behind me.

There was a load crack as the boy's foot broke a dried twig. Alerted to the danger, I spun around just in time for the pokeball to slam into my face.

"Oh damn..." I muttered as I found myself being sucked inside the ball.


	3. Talking Skills Screaming Insults

_**Author's note: Wow. Compared to a lot of my other fics, this one is really easy to write. Sure, that doesn't mean that I'm likely to write any faster, but at least you know that I WILL write. Sorry to those who read my other fics; my mind is too pokemon obsessed right now. Thank you for your understanding!  
Aside from that; if any readers out there have an OC/Original Character (human, pokemon, reborn) that you want me to put it in story, now's the time to start sending them in. If you choose to do so please send a message (or a review) with your OC's name, their appearance, habits, a little history and personality. If your OC is a pokemon or reborn also include wether or not you'd mind evolving or what kind of attacks you'd use. I'll try to include any I get into the storyline soon after you send them to me! And please forgive me if I tweak them a little to make them fit in. I'll try my best to keep them as close to their original description as I can, but I may need a certain trait or quirk. Reborns and pokemon are particularly needed.  
And...umm...Sorry in advance for the random character babbling. It's just something that happens. Hope you don't mind~**_

_**Anyway, on with the fic!**_

**Chapter 3: **_**'Talking skills. Screaming insults.'**_

When you are reborn as a pokemon, the first thing you will notice is how different the world looks, smells and sounds from back when you were human. The second thing you'll notice is that you now have a much higher threshold for pain.

I realised this back when I was with Papa Bear. When those few newbie trainers that didn't run away immediately sent out their pokemon to attack, I learned that even though I could feel the pain, very rarely (and only if I had a **lot** of damage) would the pain overwhelm me or hurt so much I couldn't move, something that would have happened with far less injures when I was human. Plus you can heal from most of those injures in less than a day.

Healing is even faster in a pokeball.

Despite this little fact, when red-head caught me, I quickly realised that being stuck in a pokeball was not for me.

Why, you ask? Well for one thing, everything you see in a pokeball, the 'simulated environment' as it's called, is so dull, boring and fake it's a wonder why the pokeball designers even bothered in the first place.  
Second, there is no one to talk to and the third and final reason is that not knowing what was going on outside in the real world was driving me crazy! Being in there to me was almost as bad as being in the nothingness, minus the feeling of being drugged and the insane legendaries on sugar.

Glaring at the badly animated forest around me and then at the annoying grey dome that was the sky, I was about to try and break out of the goddamn prison myself when everything lit up and I felt myself being shoved out.

Blinking back the blindness from my eyes, as the light from the pokeball faded, I waited until I could see properly before turning my gaze towards my new trainer.

Red hair glittered in the sunlight and silver eyes looked at me coldly, before the fourteen year old they belonged to, nodded at my condition and began tampering with his pokedex.  
As he was doing that and I was trying not to have nose-bleed from being around someone so amazingly handsome (I have a weakness for cool hair and eyes, alright?), I almost fainted when something tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hi there! That was a great battle back there! Have you been human owned in the past? 'Cause I've never seen a grass type move like that! Your old trainer must have been really talented!" Turning to face the Totodile I had fought just moments before, I gave the blue reptile my most charmingly evil smile.

"Nope. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm completely untamed." Inwardly I seethed at his words; honestly, I WAS a human once, why the hell would I need to be taught tactics?! Besides, assuming things like that was just rude!

"Oh yeah... Sorry about the whole ambush thing; Silver said we couldn't run the risk of letting such a rare pokemon like you get away. My name's Raven; and our human over there is Silver. Sorry about the late introductions and assuming stuff and all... I wasn't trying to be rude." I blinked for a moment then giggled as the Totodile blushed and rubbed the back of his head with embarrassment.

Oh boy... There was no way I could stay angry at someone with a face like that. Honestly, this Totodile was almost as cute as his trainer!

"That's ok, you're forgiven. I just needed to blow off some leftover steam from earlier. Getting my butt kicked like that really got to me." I flicked my head leaf to the side and began absorbing sunlight to restore my strength.  
"My name's Chigusa, but you can call me Chi. I hope we can be friends!" I held out my front paw for to him to shake but ended up blushing madly when he grabbed and kissed it instead.

"What the-?!"My yelp of surprise cut off when the Totodile then kneeled in front of me and flashed me a toothy grin.

"Forgive me, Miss Chi, but you are just simply too stunning for words. I hope you don't mind my forwardness but you really are cute! Be my girlfriend, pretty please?!"I stared at Raven for almost 10 minutes before I burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! I'm sorry... It's just, the way you said that, and tried to act all cool and fancy and stuff was hilarious!" Seeing the Totodile's hurt expression I tried to muffle my laughter with my head leaf but this only made it harder for me to breathe. Finally calming down, I tried (and failed) to look apologetic.

"Sorry... I wouldn't mind accepting your offer, but really, I don't know if I'm old enough. I only hatched from my egg about three months ago and I have no idea how fast Chikorita age so... How old do I have to be for this sort of thing anyway? A year? Six months? Is asking me out on a date now paedophilia? Am I even old enough to know what that word means?"

Raven's eyes bulged as I continued to shoot off random questions. When I finally paused, the Totodile stared at me in shock.

"You're only three months old?! I mean...I thought you were a little small but... Where'd you learn to fight like that- no, even more importantly, how can you eat solid food yet?! Most Chikorita your age are still learning how to walk, how does that work? I thought you were older than me!" Raven babbled rapidly as I wrapped my leaf around my ears to cut the sound out.

Deciding that talking to the Totodile right now was a waste of time, I turned around and watched as Silver tampered with the pokedex and swore under his breath as the pokedex failed at whatever it was he was trying to get it to do.

It seemed, despite being very talented battler, Silver was still a newbie. After all, these days only amateur trainers didn't know how to work a pokedex. Honestly, with the amount of things you had to use them for, you couldn't afford not to know.

"_Then again, maybe he's just not good with technology_. _I was always crap at using phones and stuff so why can't he be?" _I sighed as my trainer groaned and glared at the pokedex in rage._ "Honestly though... you'd think he would have pulled out the instruction manual by now. Is he one of those stupid annoying guys that are too proud and too stubborn to ever admit that they're wrong? God, I hope he isn't. I can't stand that type! Having a trainer like that would drive me nuts."_

As thoughts of how horrible my trainer could be began to swirl about in my head, I suddenly noticed the lack of noise behind me. Glancing back, I froze as I saw Raven staring at me, a hurt puppy-like expression on his face.

"You didn't have to go and ignore me like that, Miss Chi. I was just curious... How did you get so strong and stuff while just being a kid? Please tell me; I promise I won't tell anyone else, I swear it on my pride as a Totodile!" Seeing those watery eyes, I felt a stab of guilt and sighed.

"What would you think if I told you that my parents abandoned my egg long before I hatched and I probably would have died if I hadn't been taken in and cared for by a twelve-foot tall Ursaring?"

Raven paused thoughtfully and placed a claw under his chin.

"Well... I'd say that your luck sucks, your parents were jerks and I want to meet that Ursaring dad of yours; he sounds awesome!"

I winced slightly at the bluntness of his words. _Well, if he wasn't bothered by that then maybe..._

"Well then... what would you say if I told you I was once human, got stabbed and died, got reborn as a Chikorita and I really, really hate pokeballs?" I watched him with a hopeful expression. It wasn't very likely, but maybe he'd believe me. Papa Bear had, but then again Papa was unique. I couldn't expect everyone to simply accept things the way he did.

"I'd say... Wait? Human? Stabbed? What are talking about here? Some sort of horror movie?" Raven looked at me confused as a sweatdrop formed over my head.

_Ok... Maybe asking him to believe all that in one go was a bit too much._

"Never mind. It wasn't important anyway..." I was saved from having to explain any further when a loud '**BEEB'** buzzed out from behind us. Turning around, I spotted Silver pointing the pokedex in my direction.

'_Yay. Looks like he finally got the damn thing to work.'_

"**Chikorita, the Leaf pokemon. Is well known for being able to use the unique aroma of its leaves to calm raging pokemon. This one is female and seems to be of the 'Docile' disposition." **I glared as the machine began listing my 'personality'.

What the hell?! Docile?! I wasn't docile! I just don't like arguing when I know I'm going to lose! Any stupid talking machine-thing that says anything otherwise deserves to die!

Raven's claws gripped my shoulder as I readied my Razor Leaf.

"Don't worry about it. All pokedexes are like that. When Silver scanned me for the first time, it said I had a 'Jolly' nature. We Totodiles are all fun-loving and easy going by nature so I think it's a bit of a biased judgement but, well, it's not like we can argue. Besides, Silver's just using that thing to check your attacks and stats and stuff anyway." The Totodile shrugged then looked back towards Silver.

"Oh, it's listing your attacks now- Wait! You know Leaf Storm? That's awesome! And Leech seed and Grass Whistle too?! Wow! I didn't think Chikorita learned those attacks; that's so cool~ Oh!" I nodded slightly as Raven continued to 'Ohh' and 'Ahhh' at my various attacks. And though I did a pretty good job of hiding it, I was pretty surprised too.

Sure, I'd known about my Vine whip, but Leaf storm is a really powerful attack! I'm not supposed to know attacks like that until I'm Lv.50 or something. Maybe Mew and Celebi had pulled a few stings for me?

Soon the pokedex began to list my level (which was Lv.17) and my base stats. I stared at the machine longingly.

_Damn. I had to get me one of those. Preferably a purple one._

Finally the machine stopped and I found myself looking up at my new trainer nervously.

Sometimes when a trainer is looking for a pokemon to raise into a strong fighter for his team, the trainer will head out, catch a pokemon at random, check its condition and will then decide whether or not the pokemon is worth keeping. And judging by the way Silver was going over the results a second time (this time reading them on the scene rather than listening to that stupid automatic voice) it was obvious he was only interested in raising a truly powerful pokemon.

I shifted uncomfortably.

I had already befriended Raven (well...been hit on anyway) and the thought of not travelling together with this group suddenly felt depressing. I froze when Silver's cold eyes fixed on me.

_Agghh! He's scary... Can this guy be any more intimidating right now without evolving into a Gyarados? He didn't look anywhere near as creepy a few minutes ago. Is he trying to freak me out?_ I glared at him defiantly and swished my leaf arrogantly._ If that's the case there was no way in hell he's going to scare me! If he doesn't cut this out soon I'll show him how scary I can be!_

There was a flicker of ...something... in Silver's eyes for a moment then what looked like a tiny smile appeared on Silver's face.

"Well it seems you might be good enough. Do you want a nickname or should I just call you Chikorita?"

I grinned as Silver watched me closely. _Great! A trainer who asks his pokemon's opinions. Maybe I really did have a chance of being on a winning team. Well if he wants a name..._

"Chi! Chi, chiko Chiko-ri-ta!" Silver gave me a blank look as I blushed.

_Crap! I'd forgotten I couldn't speak human!_

I waved my leaf nervously for a moment then groaned at how stupid I had been. Mew and Celebi had told me not to write about my human self but I could still write my new name, right?  
I pressed my front paw against the ground and slowly began to write my name, ignoring the startled looks that Silver and Raven were giving me.

"C-H-I-G-U-S-A... There! That's my name right there, Silver! I hope you can read though, 'because otherwise all of that would have been a waste..." Realising he wouldn't understand a word I was saying, I paused and glanced up at Silver, his face both thoughtful and tense.

"A pokemon, who can write, has good attacks and is incredibly rare in the wild. I would have been thrilled if this wasn't so suspicious. Well, if there is someone after us, I'll just finish them off with Scarlet."Silver's eyes went cold again as he reached for my pokeball.

As soon as the pokeball was in sight, I quickly used my vines to rip it out of Silver's grasp. Ignoring my trainer's shouts, I tightened my grip around the evil red and white torture device and threw it as hard as I could against a nearby tree. I then ran over, jumped on it a few times for good measure before running back over to Silver's side, triumphant grin lighting up my face.

Silver and Raven stared at the once shiny new pokeball before turning back to me.

"Wow... When you said you hated pokeballs you really meant it, huh?" Raven paused to whistle as Silver walked over to try and pull the ball out of the ground.

As soon as it was out, Silver shot me an angry glare. I whimpered and rubbed my head against his leg as an apology. My trainer glared at me for a few more seconds, glanced at the now dented pokeball in his hand and sighed.

"I guess you'll be staying outside of your pokeball for a while. Fine... I don't care... Just don't wander off, alright? I don't want to waste time looking for you."

I gulped and nodded as Silver fixed me with yet another of his stares before walking towards the nearby path. There was another tap on my shoulder, and I turned to see Raven hop past me.

"You might want to hurry up Miss Chi. Silver is rather absentminded and has a tendency to not notice if someone slips behind. So... wanna race?!"

With that Raven charged forward. Laughing, I chased after him.

This was going to be fun~

****************************************************

Not far from where Silver and his pokemon where, a small blue bird perched on tree branch shivered, as yet another cold breeze blasted against its soft feathers.

Finally, as the wind began to die down, the Taillow took one look at her now tattered and ruffled feathers, and sighed.

'_God! Why the hell was Johto so damn cold all the time? Just because I happen to be a small blue bird with a susceptibility to cold?! Dammit! If I knew it was going to be this cold, I might as well have stayed in Hoein...' _The Taillow froze at her trail of thought and shuddered a second time, this time a reason far from the cold.

"Nope. Don't mind the cold. I **don't** mind the cold. No way. I'm just a little worn out from all that flying!" The Taillow winced at the insincerity of her own voice. "And I don't mind not having any friends here either! I mean... I wouldn't have minded if **someone** from the flock had decided to come with me, but with the way they acted, I should have killed one of the fucking bastards before I left! I mean seriously, who the hell leaves a baby Taillow like me to go half way across the world by herself?! Fucking Arseholes! And what was with that whole 'she's not like us anyway' speech?! Just because I'm a little different, doesn't mean I can't kick their tail holes! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!!"The Taillow spun around and screamed this last part into the face of the Cyndaquil who had slowly but surely sneaking up behind her.

Spotted, the Cyndaquil let out a shrill squeak and tumbled backwards, his eyes wide. Annoyed, the Taillow grimaced.

"Figures... The one nice warm pokemon that might have kept me from freezing to death is the one that overhears my psychotic ranting. Just great. You probably think I'm in need of a shrink or something too. Well, sucks to be you, because I'm leaving now and you miss out on your free entertainment. Goodbye pip-squeaky!" The Taillow spread out her wings and was about to fly off, when a thought shot through her mind. Turning back to the Cyndaquil, she lifted an eyebrow.

"Hang on a minute? You're a Cyndaquil right? Aren't Cyndaquil supposed to be like, super rare in the wild and the only ones you'll ever encounter in your life are ones that are trainer owned, who's trainers will probably be nearby-"The Taillow glanced to the side as the pokeball flying towards her seemed to move in slow motion. Knowing that there was no way to dodge the incoming missile, the Taillow did the only thing she could of.

"OH FUCKING HELL!"

***********__

As the pokeball clicked shut over the Taillow and dropped to the ground, a boy with black hair and shining golden eyes stepped out of the bushes as a Glameow sat calmly next to him cleaning her paws.

Waiting until the ball had stopped rocking and gone still; the boy picked it up calmly then walked over to the tree. The Cyndaquil, sensing his trainer, grinned and jumped down to land on the boy's back.

Immediately the boy's face broke into a smile.

"Great job there, Explotaro! I can't believe we caught that thing so easily; you didn't even have to weaken it. Oh well. I still don't know what it is yet, but I'm sure it'll help you find your buddy. So guys? Want to go into town and order the biggest order of berries and pokeblock you've ever seen in your lives?" The boy's offer was met with enthusiasm as both the Cyndaquil and Glameow's mouths began to water. "Ok then. Everyone follow me!"

The boy marched ahead, his pokemon following him close behind.

Now Gold had three.

_****************************************************_

_**So Chi has been flirted with (first time in either life), Silver seems to be slightly paranoid, the Totodile needs a girlfriend and Gold now owns a Cyndaquil and a foul-mouthed Taillow with issues. Things are looking up, aren't they?  
So...did you guys like chapter 3? Was is fun or...was it boring? Oh god, I hope not. Either way, please tell me! In a REVIEW if you could. Pretty please~? With sugar on top? I'll even throw in a super rare order of me worshipping the ground you walk on, so... please? I need you to!  
(Note: This is an unpaid presentation by the author. This fanfic cannot and will not be held accountable for anything she says. Please be aware that her mental state is completely and utterly out of our hands at all given times. Thank you for your time and co-operation in this matter.)**_

_**...Sorry about that... I was bored. But all the same... REVIEW!**_


	4. Darktype Encounters!

_**Author's note: Hi again! Umm...I kinda forgot to mention this in the last chapter, but yes, my reborn character Chi CAN still read. I know that in most reborn fics the reborn character can't read or write, but, since it was necessary for the story, Chi can. Most reborns however will be unable to. The reasons why will be explained later. Also, chapters might get a little longer from here on out. Hope you don't mind!  
Special thanks to **_**Silver Leafx**_** and **_**thebeats**_**, who have both sent in wonderful OCs and to **_**cuenta**_** my Beta reader for her corrections, (Believe me, I needed them.)  
For those who want to send in OCs: Feel free to send an OC at any time, guys! As many as you want! Guy characters are especially wanted. For those who want to send in pokemon or reborn OCs: The more common to Johto the better, but I don't mind throwing in a rare, non-Johto pokemon. And please... no legendaries, because I won't do them.  
Also, feel free to put in special rules for your OC like wether you want him/her to evolve, or who you'd like to catch them. I'll tell you right away if I can't do it, but I will try to comply with your suggestions. Thanks again!**_

**Chapter 4: **_**'Dark(-type) Encounters.'**_

It had been less than an hour since Silver had caught me and already, I was learning one very important thing.

Silver is very, very quiet.

And when I say quiet, I mean **silent**.

**Soundless**. 

So fricking quiet that he can be walking right next to you for three whole hours and you **never** hear his footsteps once! And I'm a pokemon!

Also, Silver does not talk unless he feels needs to. Meaning that the last time I had heard his voice was when he was during a battle we had against a Beedrill a few minutes after he caught me. (Darn thing got away too...)

HE NEVER TALKS!!! Or whistles! He doesn't even hum those annoyingly catchy songs that everybody knows and despite the fact you hate them, you can never get them out of your head!

Anyway, it's creepy as hell and it's pissing me off!

And as if following creepy-silent redhead wasn't bad enough, Raven, after all that cheerful chatting and mucking around earlier, had also gone silent and now I was left freaking out about the fact that the only sounds of breathing or footsteps I could hear were my own.

I sighed to myself, bored. Looking at the woodland around us had been fun at first but now it was just annoying. A chitter ahead grabbed my attention just in time to spot a Rattata ahead of us. Unfortunately, the Rattata had also heard us and ran off, much to my disappointment.

"_Well, there goes my chance for a practice battle... Damn..."_

As I mopped, faint calls of distant pokemon reached my ears. Finally unable to take it anymore I began humming, and amazingly (well... I thought it was amazing) Silver and Raven didn't seem to care.

At first I couldn't tell exactly what it was I was humming, only that it had been stuck in my head for a while when I suddenly remembered what it was. I grinned.

"_Oh yeah, this tune is from those old pokemon simulator games I used to play! God, how many months has it been since I last played those? Two? Three? Honestly, for all I knew it could have been..." _I froze as my brain registered for the first time that I had no idea what year it was let alone the month. Really, for all I knew, it could be centuries after my death.

"_How would my friends have felt growing up, meeting people, and generally living their lives without me? How would my parents have felt after seeing their one and only child lowered into a grave before them? And what if something happened to them before I saw them again? What if Soppie had been attacked by an evil thug because she wouldn't buy him sherbet or if Gold had done something stupid and hurt himself?" _

My guilt worsened when I realised that, other than hopefully seeing them again, I hadn't given any thought to their welfare. Knowing that this train of thought was both useless and pathetic, I tried to think along a different aspect.

"_Well, assuming that I hadn't taken too long to be reborn and that I would eventually meet up with them; how could I tell them I was a pokemon? What on earth could I say to convince them that I was Skye?" _I face-palmed as realisation slammed into my head.

_Oh...wait; I'd say 'Chiko, Chikorita!' I forgot about that... And there was no way to tell them in writing; I already promised Mew and Celebi that I wouldn't and I had no idea what would happen if I broke that little agreement. (My personal nightmare regarding that is being thrown into a locked room with Mew, after being covered in honey or something. O_O')_

After thinking about this just long enough to develop a nice big headache, my thoughts were interrupted when Silver stopped.

Now, the transmission from movement to still was as silent as everything else Silver seemed to do, so it was actually kind of amazing that I had noticed it at all.

Maybe it had something to do with me walking into the back of his legs.

Shooting me an annoyed glance, Silver motioned for us pokemon to look towards our left. Obeying the order, my eyes boggled in shock as I saw what had made our trainer freeze.

There, less than thirty metres away, in a nearby clearing, was a sleeping Tyranitar! On F$#ing route 31!

My eyes widened further as Silver; instead of running away as fast as possible, was actually creeping towards the thing!  
After getting within a few meters of the beast, Silver turned back to me and Raven (who had also frozen with fear) and motioned for us to come closer. Staring wide-eyed at his insanity, Raven shook himself and ran over to Silver before striking a fighting pose, obviously ready for battle.

After taking a quick look to make sure the Tyranitar was still asleep, Silver turned to me again, his face showing just enough annoyance to let me know he was furious at me. Gulping nervously, (jeez, that guy is scary!) I crawled over as quickly and as quietly as I my little legs would let me. I tried not to whimper as the Tyranitar rolled in its sleep.

Now, I know it may seem like I'm being a total coward, whimpering and whining and stuff, but you have no idea how dangerous Tyranitar are!

Back when I had been about twelve, there was a story on the news about a few kids around six or seven on a school trip, who had somehow managed to get lost near Mt. Silver. At the time, very few people had been really worried, as most of the kids already had a few well-trained pokemon as well as a map, some camping gear and food. But after the third day, rescue teams were finally called in and after a 9-hour search, they eventually found the ripped apart corpses of both the children and their pokemon in a small clearing. Soon a number of dead wild pokemon were discovered and huddled underneath the body of a Nidoqueen was a little girl, the only survivor. Who, after months of therapy and counselling, finally managed to tell police about how she and her friends had been playing with some local pokemon when a Tyranitar had suddenly burst into the clearing and attacked with no warning.  
Less than two months after that, a Tyranitar living near the Cerulean Cave went on a rampage and killed almost thirty people before being repelled by Misty the Cerulean gym leader. (God, that girl is an awesome trainer~ I'm a bit of a Misty fan though, so my view on her is a little biased.)

Now, it's not like I believe all Tyranitar are evil, or like I have a vendetta against them or something (in truth, next to Chikorita and a few others, the Tyranitar evolutionally line are some of my favourite pokemon), but the truth is, Tyranitar are among the deadliest, non-legendary pokemon that exist. And I _**really**_ don't want to get one's bad side if I can help it.

Well, regardless of how freaked out I was, it seemed I had little choice in the matter. I watched wide-eyed as the redhead pulled a black and red pokeball out his pocket. I looked up at Silver with a mix of anger and disbelieving horror.

"You **do** know that this is absolute suicide, right? You're going to fight a wild Tyranitar, a minim Lv. 55 pokemon, with only two pokemon, who both under Lv. 30 I might add, and you want to catch it in a _**LUXURY BALL**_?! Those things can't even catch Lv.1 Caterpie half the time!! Are you trying to get us killed!?!"

Of course, Silver understood none of my angry whispered rant and glared at me for making noise. Next to me, Raven sighed with relief as the pokeball came into view.

"Don't worry Miss Chi. Silver knows what he's doing. We won't be fighting this one; Scarlet will be handling this. Trust me she's more than enough for this guy."I cocked my head to the side as the Totodile grinned confidently.

"Scarlet? Oh...wait, I think Silver said that name before. Who is she? A Dragonite or something?" Raven tried not to chuckle as my fear was instantly replaced by the curiosity for my unknown team mate. (Which reminded me a little of Papa Bear and made me sort of homesick later, but that's not really important right now.)

"Scarlet, use your claws!" As the Luxury ball in Silver's hand exploded with light, I squinted through the light, trying to get a look of my trainer's unknown pokemon. For a split second, my eyes managed to catch a glimpse of a red and black _**thing**_ before a growl from the Tyranitar (who had finally woken up) made me yelp.

Instantly, the black and red blur shot towards the Tyranitar. A strange scraping sound filled the air, and my eyes widened as gouge marks appeared on the Tyranitar's face. I quickly wrapped my leaf around my ears and tried not to wince as the Tyranitar roared in pain. Thrashing wildly, the Tyranitar screeched with terror as more gouge marks began be appearing all over its body.

Wincing as the rock monster received yet another slash to the face, inwardly I couldn't help but be amazed at the power this 'Scarlet' was showing.

Really, even if I didn't know what she was yet (she moved way too fast for me to make her out) the speed and stamina she was displaying was incredible! I looked down at my paws for a moment before letting out a sigh.

Pity Chikorita weren't built for speed.

But even with all that power, the thing that amazed me most was that Silver hadn't issued any commands. Whether or not this was because he trusted his pokemon or because Scarlet was too powerful for him to control I had no idea, but I had to admit; it sure showed something!  
Glancing up at the aforementioned trainer, I felt a wave of relief when I realised Silver had both a revive and an Ultra ball on hand.

"_Oh good. At least he's got that covered. Hopefully he has medicine for the Tyranitar too; that poor thing is really taking a beating..."_

Of course, the very second that thought crossed my mind was the very second the Tyranitar managed to get its act together and retaliate against its attacker.  
There was a sickening '**CRUNCH'** sound as rock tail slammed into bone, and Silver and Raven watched in horror as the red and black blur slammed into a nearby tree.

Realising we were distracted, the Tyranitar turned away and ran towards the trees; soon out of sight. Relieved that it had decided to run rather than attack us, I turned to see Silver gently lifting Scarlet to her feet. My eyes shined as I got my first good look at her.

A Sneasel?! A regular kid like Silver managed to catch a Sneasel?! I mean, sure, Sneasel weren't exactly rare in Johto but really, those guys are super fast! And considering how good their hearing is... Just...Wow.

Still stunned by the fact I was on a team with a Sneasel (I _**love**_ Sneasels! If there was a Sneasel fanclub, I'd join it for sure. They're just so kick-ass cool~) I watched dumbly as Silver began spraying Scarlet with the revive. Next to them, Raven watched on with a look of concern. Finally, the injured Sneasel twitched and opened her eyes; Silver smiled openly, too relieved to say anything.

I stared in amazement, a funny warm feeling in my chest. "_Wow... I think that's the first time I've seen Silver smile; ever since he caught me he's always been glaring and stuff. He's actually sort of cute when he smiles~"_

I beamed with pleasure as a thought struck me. "_A cute, cold-acting trainer and his beloved Sneasel. Now all we need is some random villain and a love interest to show up and this would be a great anime! Oh! Come to think of it, I wonder what anime has come out since I've been a pokemon? Awww...but being pokemon means I get no money and I can't buy any DVDs... AH!"_

Realising I had been spacing out for more than a minute, I shook my head roughly and ran up to Raven. The Totodile (who probably hadn't noticed I'd been missing) smiled as I sat down next to him.

"You asked before so... That's Scarlet. She's Silver's first pokemon and she's really powerful! I'm really kinda surprised that the Tyranitar hit her; I've been in this team for almost two months now and I've never seen her get hit by anything." I blinked as Raven's eyes seemed to sparkle, waves of admiration practically poring off him.

I gave him a sceptical look, my leaf curling around my neck.

"Do you fall for every strong girl you meet or just the ones that join your team?" Raven looked so stunned by my comment I was about to apologise when a pair of razor sharp claws suddenly appeared underneath my throat.

"Who is this person, Raven? Silver has warned us to be watchful for enemies so I am taking precautions. Shall I remove her? She seems to be upsetting you." Scarlet's ruby eyes glinted at me coldly as her claws tightened around my neck. Completely ignoring the obvious threat to my existence, I gazed up at the Sneasel, my eyes starry with excitement.

"It's a real Sneasel! A real life Sneasel!! I've only seen pictures of you guys in books and PC-sims and stuff before and now I'm on a team with one! THIS IS SO COOL! AND AWESOME!! AND JUST...WOW!!!" Scarlet jumped back as I stared up at her adoringly. Looking slightly uncomfortable, the Sneasel turned to Raven and raised an eyebrow.

"Has she suffered some sort of mental injury or head trauma?"I giggled a little before raising my paw in a handshake gesture.

"Nope. No head injuries. My name's Chigusa. Silver caught me about an hour ago and I didn't mean to upset Raven, I was only teasing... I was about to apologise when you started waving your claws at me too. By the way...You have a really cool head feather! Can I have it when it falls off?" As Scarlet stared at me completely baffled, Raven tried to muffle a laugh. I chuckled and swished my leaf to side, trying to hide my rapidly reddening face.

This was so much like it had been back at school. People were always finding my personality changes weird. Hopefully Scarlet wasn't too freaked out; I can't begin to count the number of people who have avoided me because of how strangely I act.

'_Come to think of it, how would Silver acted around me back when I was human? He probably wouldn't have even noticed me; he seems like the quiet spacey type... or the angsty 'Grrr' type. Can't really tell which one yet. Hey...where is Silver anyway?'_

Suddenly remembering our trainer's existence, I glanced around wildly, my confusion only growing when I failed to spot him. I paused, confused.

_Okay... That's a little weird..._

"What are you doing, Miss Chi? Is something wrong?" Raven's large eyes blinked at me innocently before following my gaze. "Hey... where'd Silver go? I thought he was right over there..."  
The Totodile turned and glanced towards me hopefully. "Miss Chi? Do you know where Silver went?" I glared at him.

"Raven. I'M the new pokemon here. I know zip all about the Redhead at this point in time so why would I know where he's disappeared to?" The Totodile shuffled on the spot, his tail wrapped around his feet.

"No reason really. It's just... you're so smart and stuff so, I figured you'd know. Sorry..." As my face reddened, Scarlet rolled her eyes.

"Silver is just surveying the area, so there is no need for all this noise. But, there is one thing I'd like to know..." The Sneasel fixed her cold eyes on me, which were so much like Silver's it wasn't funny, and then **growled. **I gulped and felt a trickle of sweat run down my back.

"Why did you refer to Silver as 'the redhead'..? He's your master! How **DARE** you insult him! I should rip your throat out for even thinking of it!" As Scarlet lunged for me, I yelped and hid behind Raven who started waving his arms frantically, his eyes wide.

"WAIT! Miss Chi didn't mean it like that Scarlet! It was just a nickname, like how sometimes I call Silver the Boss-man or how you used to call me an underling! It wasn't meant to be rude, honest!" Scarlet paused, her claws centremeters away from Raven's neck. I stared. _'Wow... Talk about being edgy...'_

There was a tense silence as Scarlet stood there staring at us threateningly. After a minute or so the Sneasel seemed to come to a decision and retracted her claws. Both Raven and I sagged with relief then froze a second time as Scarlet glared.

"...Fine. I understand that you were wild until this morning; you can't know how to react... You are forgiven. **This time.** But if you should ever try insult or harm Silver in **any**__way I **will** kill you, understood Chikorita?" I gulped and nodded again, both terrified and admiring.

As Scarlet nodded, seemingly satisfied with my response, Raven began to plea with Scarlet to forgive me for any future mistakes. Still feeling slightly out of place I tried to think, seeing as there wasn't much else for me to do.

"_...Wow... Who knew Sneasels were such over-protective psychos? Still, with claws out and that evil glare, she looked just like a loyal Ninja defending her master... Scarlet is so awesome!" _My eyes glittered for a moment before dulling back down.

"_All the same... The way Scarlet reacted was kinda...extreme. Did Silver used to get bullied at school or something? Then again, seeing as she is Silver's first pokemon, maybe she just feels she has to protect him all the time."_

I paused as a new thought popped into my head._ "Or maybe it's that thing. The PokEMon PROS. Magazine had a report on that a while ago, about how sometimes the first pokemon of a trainer starts to mimic the trainer's personality. Wait?! Does this mean Silver's going to go post-mental every time someone accidently insults him? Oh damn...I would have to get caught by a lunatic, wouldn't I? Hope I don't have to stop him killing anybody... Scratch that. I just hope Scarlet doesn't murder me before we get to Azalea Town; I wanna at least see the Ruins of Alph before I die. Again." _I shuddered before lying down and began absorbing sunlight just in case.

After a few minutes of rest, I turned to see Raven walking towards me. Realising he had been spotted, the Totodile grinned and sprinted over before taking a seat next to me.

"Sorry about all that Miss Chi... I was just clearing a few things up with Scarlet. She doesn't mean to go all scary like that; she just...really worries about Silver. And don't worry! I made Scarlet promise not to kill you over the pokeball incident earlier. Just... don't tease Silver while Scarlet is out, ok? I'm not sure how many times I can lie like that before she figures it out-AAGGHHH!!!" "AAGGHHH!!!"

Both Raven and I screamed as Silver suddenly landed in front of us, seemingly out of nowhere. As Silver shot us a glare for making a racket, I stared at the leaves and broken twigs clinging to his clothes then glanced up at the towering trees around us.

"No way... He was in the trees?" Raven, it seemed had also come the same conclusion and stared at Silver in disbelief. "But... even the lowest branches are about two stories high..."

Both of us were silent for a moment before I began chuckling. Raven looked at me curiously as my leaf shook from the force of my repressed laughter.

Aware I was committing verbal suicide, I tried to keep a straight face.

"It was just... I thought, with the way Silver came out of the tree, maybe he would be the better pokemon... and then I imagined him appearing out of a pokeball yelling 'Sil, SILVER!' and-"

"HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR MASTER LIKE THAT?! I'M GOING TO RIP YOU APART FOR THIS IN SULT!!!!"

As Scarlet began slashing and Chigusa ran for her life while laughing, Raven walked over to bewildered Silver and let out a tremendous sigh.

This was going to be a long day...

**********************************

The sun was just beginning to touch the horizon when Violet City came into view. And yet, despite the beautiful and inspiring image of the sun setting behind the shadowy image of Sprout Tower, I was not happy.

Why is that you ask? Well, it turns out that yes, being slashed by razor sharp claws that can cut through stone, does hurt exactly as much as you'd think it would. It also turns out that when Scarlet said she'd try to kill me, she really meant it. I winced as the cuts around my neck began to ache again.

Seriously, if Silver hadn't run over and hauled Scarlet off me, I think she really would have had my throat ripped out by her bare claws! Thanks to that little incident, I was now sporting a number of cuts and scratches as well as now somewhat sliced in half head-leaf.

Walking just behind Silver like the good little slave Scarlet wanted me to be, I glanced up at Scarlet warily. The Sneasel, in her usual ninja-like kickass way, somehow seemed to feel my gaze and turned to hiss at me, her little teeth glinting evilly. I shuddered and looked down, my glum mood turning even gloomier.

'_Come on, Scarlet... I pissed you off hours ago! Why do you have to get so mad? It wasn't even a real insult; just an idea that popped into my head... Besides, Silver told you to lay off already.'_ There was a light patter of feet and I looked up just in time to see Scarlet race up a nearby tree. As she bounded through tree branches, I rubbed my temples with my leaf and groaned.

'_Damn bloody ninja-weasel. Now she has me wanting to race up trees like that. Not that I can, of course. Dammit... I wouldn't be feeling so low if I at least had someone to talk to, but Raven needs to rest in his pokeball...'_

During the fight earlier, as I was being chased, Raven had just been watching, mostly likely figuring that Scarlet wouldn't really try to hurt me. But when Scarlet had started slashing at my neck (after she had pinned me to the ground, that is) Raven had tried coming to my rescue, only to have Scarlet slam him on the head with a Brick Break.

I flinched at the memory.

Sure... It wasn't exactly my fault and all...but ow. He'll have a headache tomorrow. Besides, it upset me that the only member of team so far that even seemed to like me was unconscious. At least Silver had returned him to his pokeball straight away.

I glanced at my own injuries and sighed.

'_Maybe I should have thought about this side of things, before smashing my ball the way I did. Of course, Silver could just use a potion on me... But I bet he's out of them. If he wasn't, he would have used one on Raven earlier. Besides,'_ I kicked a pebble absently before looking up at my trainer glumly. _'..I don't even know what this Silver's really like. I've only seen him smile twice today, and the only things he's said to me have been rhetorical questions (which I answered but they were __**meant**__ to be rhetorical) and battle orders. Come to think of it...he hasn't used my nickname either... I don't even know what this guy caught me for! For all I know he could have caught me just so he could sell me on the black market!' _Realising how stupid that thought sounded, even to me, I shook my head and went back to staring at my trainer.

'_Truth is, if I wanted to, I could just run away and go back to being wild seeing how I smashed my pokeball and all. And after everything that happened with Scarlet... maybe I should...'_ Just as I was about to seriously consider this question there was a quiet 'rustle' in the tree to my left.

Now to most people, a rustling sound in a forest is not that important. And normally it wouldn't bother me either. But this time the sound somehow left me feeling disturbed.

I glanced up at the trees nearby and, spotting nothing, suddenly felt the urge to run. Shaking my head of such thoughts, I began to walk (a little faster than normal, but still walking) towards Silver, who, as Raven had warned me, hadn't noticed my short absence. As I drew close to him there was another rustling sound from up ahead but this one didn't bother me, seeing as the distinctive 'whoosh' sound that came with it just screamed out 'Scarlet'.

Aware that I was watching her, Scarlet shot me an enraged look. Instead of cringing however, my gazed focused on a patch of black behind her.

Now, I don't know for the life of me why my gaze went in that direction or why an inconspicuous patch of black, no different than any other patches of black you'd see in a forest around sunset fascinated me so much, but it did.

This turned out to be very important when the black suddenly seemed to move, its wings(?) practically slicing through the air.

For me everything at that point seemed to be moving in slow motion. My eyes widened as a blade of air shot past the Sneasel, missing her by millimetres. Scarlet's own eyes widened as she realised the attack that just missed her was heading towards someone else.

Silver.

My whole body shook as I realised what would happen next. Silver, fast as he was, didn't know the attack was heading for him; he was turning to face it, thinking one of us pokemon might be attacked. Scarlet, who was lunging towards Silver with all her strength, was too far behind the attack to either intercept it with an attack or jump into the line of fire.

Meaning the blade of air would slice into Silver's soft human skin; most likely his face or his back depending on how fast he turned. Meaning that either way it hit him, Silver would be hurt horribly and as small (strong but small) pokemon, Scarlet and I wouldn't have the strength to get him to town, let alone a hospital in time to save him.

Meaning he'd die. His blood...everywhere...

He'd die just like I did.

Suddenly time seemed to speed forward. Running towards my trainer faster than I thought possible, I shoved my vines towards Silver's back as hard I could.

Not expecting a push from behind, Silver stumbled forwards, just enough to get out of the way of the blast which now sliced lengthways through my vines which **were** very much in the way.

"**GAAAHHHHGGG!**" I screamed in agony, quickly pulling my vines back towards me, their long forms spraying the green bitter smelling ooze which I know to be my plant half's blood.

Trying to block out the pain (which hurt far more than any other attack I've felt in my entire life span, short as it is) I bit my lip sharply, dropped to the ground and raised my head leaf towards the last of the remaining sunlight, which would, hopefully, be enough to help me recover.

As I was doing that, Scarlet checked on Silver (I think he managed to avoid breaking his neck by doing one of those martial-art rolling techniques) for any wounds before turning to me.

I looked at her warily for a moment before smiling stupidly, trying to ignore the tears that were spilling out my eyes.

_Fuck, it hurt so much I was crying!_

Now you may be wondering what having your own vine-whip sliced into is like. Or maybe you're already going pale from just thinking about it.  
Well, I'll cut it short (no pun intended).  
To get an idea of what it feels like, just imagine having your arms out in front of you, being cut into by a razor all the way from the wrist then down to your elbow, the blade going deeper towards the bone the further it goes.

There! Now you know why I was screaming.

"Sorry Scarlet. Didn't mean to be disrespectful and all, pushing 'dear Silver' so roughly like that, but I was kinda out of options. Unlike you Sneasels, we Chikorita aren't exactly known for out blinding speed-Gah!" I winced as my vines throbbed again, though thanks to the synthesis they had finally stopped bleeding.

Scarlet narrowed her eyes at me for a moment then smiled. It was a weak smile, obviously not something she did very often but it still made me feel all fuzzy inside.

'_It's exactly like her master's smile from this morning! Does this mean I'm doing something right? Ugh...Oh no..dizzy... Better rest first, think later...'_

"Thank you...um... Chi, is it? It seems I may have misjudged you a bit. I'm not sure about you yet though so..."The Sneasel's face went a little red as she struggled to come up with an appropriate response. I giggled, not sure why but I was when a far more sinister chuckle came from the trees.

Blinking at the tree blankly for a moment, I groaned when I realised what it was.

"Why do the baddies who attack people randomly always have to do a psychotic evil laugh? I mean, what's the point? All you're doing is leaving yourself wide open and... and... ...stuff." I finished weakly, too tired to think properly.

Silver, who had been shuffling through his coat frantically, finally ran over and lifted me up. Making sure my tattered leaf was still facing the last of the sunlight, the redhead handed me what I think was an oran berry (I'm a bit tired, ok? It's hard to think, alright?).

I bit into the berry gratefully. '_Sure, maybe it isn't a potion, but it's better than nothing.'_

As I was doing that, Scarlet it seemed was taking my advice and was getting even. Letting out a sharp hiss the Sneasel lunged towards the enemy, her movement so fast she was blurred. Within seconds Scarlet was in the trees; I winced as the enemy's cackling changed into screeching.

"_Ouch... I know what that feels like."_ I watched blankly as our attacker, a young Murkrow, flapped out the trees his wings tattered.

Spotting me and Silver, the bird let out a caw of rage.

"You damn human! It's your fault that psycho Sneasel attacked me, isn't it!?! I was going to beat you and show Boss Honchia my strength, but you had to go and ruin it all! DAMN YOU!!!!" Shrieking the most ear-piercing sound I'd ever heard, the Murkrow swooped towards us, his wings glowing brightly.

I watched the bird helplessly as I felt Silver's body tense.

"_Oh crap. I don't think Silver's fast enough to dodge that Wing Attack... At least, not while carrying me... And there's no way I'll be able to take another attack like that Air Cutter before... Acreus damn it!"_

I shuddered and shut my eyes tightly, waiting for the evitable death blow. However the attack did not come; my ears perking when the young Murkrow let out a caw of pain which was soon followed by a loud '**KABOOM**' sound.

I opened my eyes slowly and stared. Instead of Scarlet being the one pinning the Murkrow to the ground, I instead found myself looking at the strangest, oldest-looking Murkrow I had ever seen. Talons pressed to the younger bird's neck, the older Murkrow grinned, pulled out a lighter and _**lit the cigarette in his beak!?!**_

I stared blankly. _Were pokemon supposed to know how to do that..?_

Chuckling, the old crow smacked the younger bird a few times over the head with his wings before turning towards us. He then put a wing before his chest and bowed apologetically.

"Sorry about all that, me hearties, this little ruffian is one o'the younger hatchlings in the flock this year. You'll have to forgive his stupidity, he can't help it seeing as his brain is yet the size of a fried pea." About to reply to the seemingly friendly bird, I looked into the old Murkrow's eyes and...

_**-The old stumbled forward, a hand clutched tightly to his chest. As his face twisted in agony, the man stumbled towards an old cabinet and his hand barely managed to lift a locket off the top shelf. Opening it, the man smiled softly as he looked at the photo of the woman inside.  
"Don't worry my Joanna, I'm a' coming to be with you. There's no more reason to wait for me anymor..." The old man's voice cut off as he jerked back gasping for breath.  
The old man fell to the ground, still gripping the carpet tightly as the paramedics arrived and sirens blared in the distance. There was a final gasp and-**_

...and I blinked in confusion as the vision began to clear from my eyes. Suddenly feeling disorientated, I watched as the old bird stood frozen for a moment before turning to me, his beak twisted into what looked like a smirk.

"So you're a reborn human as well, I take it?"

************************

Wolf, the newly dubbed Taillow burped loudly as yet another tray of berries was placed on the table in front of her. Patting her stomach with a wing, the Taillow grinned and began picking the inside of her back with a toothpick.

"_Ah~ Warm, well-fed and no fear of predators. This was the life~" _The Taillow looked up towards her new master and smirked.

Of all the people who could have caught her, it seems she had really lucked out. Not only was Gold nice and considerate of a pokemon's needs (good food, warmth etc) he provided great entertainment by flirting pathetically with all of the waitresses and waiters. Even the nickname he had chosen for her (she had really been dreading it would be Fifi or something) the guy had shown reasonably good taste and called her Wolf, one of her favourite animals.

Finally finished with cleaning her beak, the Taillow let out a yawn and felt her eyes begin to close, the need for rest finally overtaking her. As Gold gently lifted the stuffed little Taillow off the chair, the Taillow murmured weakly in her sleep.

"Maybe I won't have to run anymore..."

*****************************************************************************

_**So... Chi has finally met the psychotic Scarlet as well as the first of the (hopefully) many reborns she will encounter. YAY!!!**_

_**But...where is Scarlet anyway..? She just sort of disappeared, didn't she? Oh well. She's currently busy, don't worry. She'll be back very soon.  
More importantly, did you like chapter 5? Was it fun? Please give me a review telling me what you liked (or didn't like) about it!**_

_**As for those of you who sent me OCs (you know who you are, you wonderful people you) your OCs will be coming soon! Though only one will be introduced in the next chapter. Sorry about that... For those who miss out at first, your OCs will get whole chapters introducing them so hopefully that'll make up for extra wait.**_

_**I'll also be doing pics of any OC's sent to me so if you send or have already sent me an OC or two, check out my DeviantART page. There's a link to it on my profile page. I can't promise they'll be done right away (or 100% correctly as I am slightly colour blind) but hopefully you'll like what you see. X3**_

_**Anyway, please keep the reviews and reading the new chapters! I'll be writing as best as I can! Chao!**_


	5. Battles and Obsessions

_**Author's note: Hi there guys! Glad I got the next chapter up? Sorry I'm so late... My internet has been rebelling again.  
As always, thanks to **_**cuenta** _**for being my beta reader and to all those who reviewed. You guys are awesome!  
And a special thank you to **_**Srgeman**_**, who I only recently discovered was the one who started the 'reborn' idea. Thank you so much for doing so!  
**__Possible rating misuse! Warning for those reading the fic__**:**__From this point on in the story, there may be numerous anime, manga, game, book and real world references as well as same-sex relationships, swearing, graphic violence and other possibly upsetting or annoying things. I was sure rating this fic _T_ was enough but I recently realised just how many younger readers out there were reading this so I thought I better make sure you know what you're getting into. Hopefully none of you will mind too much about the content, but for those of you who do, I'm very sorry. I really should have put this in the prologue. Also, there may be random page breakers in the middle of the fic; I made them by accident, and I have no idea how to delete them. Again, I'm sorry.  
But anyway... __**ON WITH THE FIC!  
Oh wait! Almost forgot again the disclaimer again. I don't own pokemon, enough said. Hope you enjoy~ **_

**Chapter 5: **_**'Reborn.'**_

_**??? POV.**_

"So you're a reborn human as well, I take it?" I grinned as the young Chikorita in front of me gasped, her eyes wide with shock.

"Wait! 'As well?' Are you the old man in that vision? And what was that anyway? It felt like I was in someone else's mind or something and... I am so confused right now..." The Chikorita's voice trailed off as she began sway unsteadily in her trainer's arms.

The trainer, a boy roughly around the age of 15 or 16 held the Chikorita protectively to his chest and glared at me, most likely thinking I was the cause behind the lass's sudden distress. A little to the left, the Sneasel who had almost torn young Shaleback in half was running towards the two, her sharp eyes watching me warily.

Ignoring her hissing, I took a huge puff of my cigar and looked back at the Chikorita lass before letting out a sigh.

'_Another young'en reborn who the Legendaries didn't have the time or patience t'a explain all the rules to. Why aren't they paying me for all the mistakes of 'theirs I'm fixing? And where's my raise? Ya'd think 60 Years of extra work would count for something... Ah well. Not much I can do about it.'_ A whimpered caw from underneath my talons made me puff out a cloud of smoke in irritation.

'_And what a time t'a remember my real reason for coming here again. The darn snot-nosed little chickpea this idiot is. But the flock always comes first. Though...it looks like I'll have t'a be taking time off work if any more young'ens like this lass start showing up... Hope dear Honchia doesn't mind too much, I don't want t'a have to be egg watching again next year, this year's young are already too much for my old bones."_

Mentally cringing at all the things I'd have to do once I got back to the flock, I bowed again to the trainer and took off, young Shaleback held tightly in my claws. As I flew upwards, I cawed a message to the bewildered reborn staring up at me.

"I'll be answering all your questions when we next meet, young'en! Don't go looking for me, I'll find you and your crew, and this time there'll be no battle first! May winds favour your sails, little lass!"

And with that, I flew back the nest, with Shaleback struggling against my talons the whole way.

* * *

**Chi POV.**

World still spinning and my neck beginning to ache more and more each second, I stared as the weird old Murkrow flew off into the distance.

"_When next we meet? Winds favour my sails? Wow... You never hear people talk like that anymore. It's so old fashioned, it's kinda cool... And he's a reborn like me." _I smiled wearily.

A reborn just like me. Sure, it made perfect sense seeing as I was a reborn and I sure as hell wasn't special enough to be the only one history ever brought back to life... but still! There were others! Like me!

Until now, it had felt sort of like I was all alone in this predicament. It had even gotten to the point where I had been wondering if Skye Royall had just been a dream that the super eccentric Chi the Chikorita had thought up and had suddenly decided was reality. A weird thought, but it was starting to seem like that in my head. So seeing another one was more than a relief; it let me know I wasn't completely insane, even if it did raise more questions than it had answered.

Realising I could hear some sort of sound I looked up to see Silver and Scarlet on his shoulder, looking down at me in concern. Trying to reassure them, I tried to wave my head leaf before I realised I was too exhausted to move.

As my eyes grew heavy, I thought for just a moment I could hear someone's voice... then everything went black.

* * *

Silently cursing under his breath as he ran through the forest, Silver tried everything he could not to look at the blood covered pokemon in his arms.

This was all his fault. Honestly, with all the things that had happened in his life so far he should have known better than to relax in an unfamiliar territory, but no. Instead he had been stupid, had let his guard down and now... now the Chikorita was suffering for it.

'_Chi.'_ He reminded himself as he ducked underneath a low hanging tree branch. _'The Chikorita wrote 'Chi-something' (couldn't make out what that last bit said; it was too messy to read). I would have preferred to nickname her myself but pokemon you've just caught don't normally write their names on the ground for you to read.'_

Grimacing slightly at the thought, he broke out of the forest and onto the edge of the city. Silver narrowed his eyes as he quickly scanned the area for the pokemon centre; spotting only roads, old houses and a sign pointing to Sprout Tower, he gritted his teeth with frustration.

Damn. Normally in a situation like this, he would have sent Scarlet out to help but after all that energy she had used in that last fight... and Raven was probably still out cold. He'd just have to wing it and hope he'd run into it somehow.

After a few minutes of running through city streets and trying to ignore the pain in his legs from running too fast for too long, Silver almost smiled when the pokemon centre finally came into view.

Barely waiting for the glass doors to open, he rushed inside and pushed through the queue to the closest desk, ignoring the yelps of anger and surprise from those shoved out of the way.

Seeing this, the Nurse Joy at said desk leapt from her chair with a furious expression on her face and was about to give Silver the lecturing of his life when her eyes focused on the tiny bundle he was carrying.

Grabbing Chi from his arms, Joy jotted down something on the computer next to her at lightening fast speed then flipped on the intercom.

"**Calling for a stretcher for a small non-venomous grass pokemon to come to Desk3. The patent is in a critical condition and requires instant medical attention. Could all patients lined up in front of Desk3 whose pokemon are not in need of immediate care please move to another line. Thank you and have a good evening!**"

There was a collective groan from those who had been waiting in line for Desk3 as two Chancey raced into the room with a stretcher. Placing the Chikorita as gently and as swiftly as she could onto it, Nurse Joy bit her lip as the Chancey wheeled the Chikorita away. Turning back to Silver, the nurse's eyes were stern.

"Any others in need of care or was that all? I'll need to verify your trainer's Id and find out how that Chikorita got hurt that badly anyway so don't try to lie about their condition. I've had to deal with more than four trainers this month who've done that and I really don't want to have to deal with any more, alright?"

Hiding his annoyance at her lecture, Silver placed both his pokedex and pokeballs onto the counter.

"Two pokemon. A Totodile and a Sneasel. The Totodile might have some injuries to his head but the Sneasel is just tired. As for the Chikorita... we got ambushed by Murkrow. You should be able to tell that by the type of wounds. My pokedex has my Id. Is that enough for now?" The nurse blushed a little, nodded and seeing the bags under Silver's eyes pointed to a nearby set of couches.

Bowing slightly to show his gratitude, Silver walked over to the nearest seat, sat down and let out a huge sigh.

Normally a little run like that one wouldn't have tired him out so much, but it seemed with the lack of sleep, lack of food and the stress of having **them** after him for the last few months was finally starting to get to him. And with all the attention he had gotten by shoving through the lines, no doubt word would get out that he was here, meaning he'd have to leave soon.

Leaning back so he could relax a bit more, Silver took a deep breath to calm his nerves and closed his eyes.

At least he'd have few days to build up the team. A week would be too long, but a day or two spent battling rookies for money and a third spent visiting either Sprout Tower or the local Gym would be time well spent. If Raven and that Chikorita were going to be any help at all they would have to be much stronger than they were now.

Tensing at the thought of those after him, Silver quickly shook and tried to clear his head.

No. He couldn't waste this time he had right now worrying, he needed rest... and there was no way they'd find him in less than an hour after entering the city. Hell, for all he knew, they might not have even realised he was back in Johto. Why was he keeping himself awake like this again..? That's right...sleep...

............

About two hours after Silver had fallen asleep, light footsteps coming towards him jolted him awake. Casting an eye open, he sat up quickly as a Nurse Joy walked over to him. Surprised the boy had gotten up so suddenly, the nurse smiled somewhat timidly before bowing. Realising this Joy was a different one from the one he'd seen earlier, Silver shot the new Joy an annoyed glance.

"Umm... Silver Sasaki..?" Silver nodded at the sound of his name. The Joy (relieved that she had found the right person) handed him a key before clearing her throat nervously.

"Umm... Nurse Joy from desk3 told me to tell you that that your pokemon have been fully healed and that she would like to talk to you when you go to pick them up. She also told me to hand this key to you and wanted me to let you know that your room number is #26. Well that's all so...Good bye!" Face bright red for no apparent reason, the young Joy bowed many times more than was necessary and ran away babbling something about 'stemming a nosebleed' and 'bishies'.

Silver shook his head at her antics.  
Why did Jennys and Joys always act like that around him? It happened everywhere he went too... It was like they all had crushes and were acting stupid because of it, but there was no way that could be it. It was too weird, even for them.

Deciding that eccentricities of the semi-cloned people weren't really his problem, Silver got to his feet and headed over to where his pokemon would probably be. Glancing around, he noticed many of the trainers he had seen earlier were gone and how much quieter it was.

He smiled faintly; he had always felt more at ease in the quieter hours of the night. Not just because it was a lot easier to hear and hide from pursuers, but also that he simply felt a lot more accustomed to the dark.

Spotting the Joy he had seen earlier, Silver dashed over to her counter when he spotted the Chikorita on the table. Quickly checking her for anything the Joys might have missed, Silver heaved a sigh of relief when he realised she was in perfect health. Having already pocketed his pokedex and pokeballs, the boy picked up the Chikorita and was about to just head off, before remembering that this Joy wanted to talk to him. He paused and turned back, waiting for the Joy to hurry up and talk already.

The Joy, who had been watching him with incredible interest this whole time, blushed red for a moment, before smiling sweetly; a complete turnaround from her earlier behaviour. Silver winced.

'_Oh god. She isn't going to act all weird like that other Joy, is she?'_

"Well, Mr Sasaki, it seems all your ID checks through and all of your pokemon's injures were **exactly** as you said they were. I'm so sorry about my rudeness earlier, by the way. I hope you'll forgive me for that, after all these days you never know what kind of scummy-"

After about twenty minutes, Silver nodded uncaringly as the woman continued to babble.

Honestly... why couldn't she go bother someone else..? He was tired and needed more sleep, dammit. Though, it was probably good to know that his fake Id had worked. It seemed hacking into the Pokemon League's trainer database had been worth it.

"...and I want you to feel free to ask any of us here if you need anything, ok? Oh my gosh look at the time! I've kept you for far too long. You should go to bed now; no doubt you've got a busy day ahead of you. Well then, good night~" The nurse, having finally finished her 'talk' with him walked off briskly to tend to another patient.

Feeling more than a little relieved that the woman was gone; Silver stoically carried his new Chikorita to his room, before gently dumping her on the end of the bed and collapsing next to her, instantly falling asleep.

..............

**Chi's POV.**

I rubbed my eyes tiredly with my vines as sunlight hit my face. Blinking up, I looked at the room around in my state of sleepy confusion.

'_Where am I again..? And why am I in a building-AH!'_ My eyes shot open as I suddenly remembered the events of the day before. Glancing around rapidly, I felt a wave of relief as I spotted Silver asleep next to me; his crimson hair flopping all over the place and the collar of his black jacket hiding the bottom half of his face.

I grinned at the sight. _'Awww! He looks so cute and innocent right now; just like a little doll~ He must have been really tired... He didn't even pull a blanket over himself. Though if he had, he wouldn't look as cute so I kinda happy about it.'_

Giggling over the fact that I was probably acting worse than the average Lolita-fangirl, I sat there for a moment feeling pleased for myself before taking in my new surroundings.

Sunlight filtered through a single window to the room and next to the bed we were on, was a small cabinet, just large enough to be useful. Looking up, I realised that the bed was in fact a bunk-bed and there was another on the other side of the room. A tiny bathroom cubicle sat right next to the door.

'_Oh...We're in a pokemon centre room. But...I don't remember getting to the centre..." _My leaf drooped for a moment then sprung back up,_ "Oh well, I love these rooms! They always make me feel so nostalgic."_

Humming to myself cheerfully (but not loud enough to wake Silver. I hate waking people up) I jumped off the bed and tootled over to the cabinet, picked up the pokeballs Silver had probably left there in his barely conscious state the previous night, and tapped the buttons on the front with my vines. There was a small burst of red light as Raven and Scarlet materialised in front of me, and I placed the pokeballs back.

As the two of them blinked the light from their eyes, I swished my head leaf in joy. I don't know whether it was the fact I was now a pokemon or just my simple nature, but I felt so happy at just seeing my teammates nearby. It was a strange feeling, but it felt good.

"Hey! What happening?! Is there going to be a battle-" Raven's babbling was cut off as I quickly used one of my vines to tie his mouth shut.

"Shhhhhhhh! Silver is still asleep, and I don't want to wake him up. And, he's up there by the way." I pointed with my other vine as Scarlet fixed me with her glare. Nodding, the Sneasel hopped up to where Silver was, and I swear, for just a moment, she smiled. She then turned back and frowned, ruining the effect.

"If Silver is asleep, why are we out of our pokeballs? I know how to get out the pokeball I am in by myself but Raven cannot... There is also a bruise on Silver's face I do not recall." Scarlet looked at me accusingly, her eyes harsh.

I sighed inwardly.

'_Really, I've been part of this team for less than a full 24 hours and I already know that one of my teammates is a complete psycho who seems to believe I'm out to either kill or usurp her trainer. Oh well, the sooner I get used to it, the better, right?'_

"No, Scarlet... I did not knock out Silver the very second he released you from your pokeball. If I had, I wouldn't have had enough time to lift and put him on the bed like that. He's too big and heavy, and I am not a cool ninja-type pokemon like you."

Swishing my head leaf to the side, I suddenly felt the urge to run around. Not being one to disobey my impulses, I did so, ignoring the looks of bewilderment my teammates gave me as I continued my little speech.

"**I** was the one who released you guys from your pokeballs. I just woke and I didn't want to wake Silver up so I let you out. It was lonely all by myself. Hey, I just realised! I'm a pokemon genius because I can send you guys out or return you anytime I want to! HA! But I don't think I will much because that'd be mean and Scarlet would kill me and-Agh!" I yelped in pain as my front left-leg gave out from underneath me. Crashing onto the ground, I lay there shocked for a moment before gingerly trying to stand. Testing my leg, I bit my lip when I realised I couldn't put my weight on it well. Raven dashed over to me.

"Are you alright, Miss Chi? What happened? You just fell all of a sudden-" Suddenly feeling very embarrassed, I cut him off with nervous laughter.

"It's ok, it's ok. I just tripped a bit, see I'm fine." Seeing the worry on the Totodile's face, I tried to prove I was fine by putting all my weight back on my feet. A mistake. I tried not to whimper as I went pale from all the blood draining from my face.

Evidently my whimper had been too loud, because there was a familiar blur of black and red as Scarlet jumped down and grabbed my leg near the foot. She then pulled my leg out straight and _**poked it**_.

"**GAH!!!**" I jerked back to find myself landing painfully on my tail. Scarlet fixed me with a scowl as Raven hurriedly tried to help me back up.

"If you are going to hide injures Chikorita, then you had best learn to not feel pain first. Stupid Chikorita! False confidence only tricks our master into thinking he can put you in battle when he cannot, and that only makes us weaker!" I flinched as Scarlet continued to bark her fury at me. "Idiot! And after that battle yesterday!"

As Scarlet paused to breath, Raven looked at her in confusion before flashing me a hurt expression. I avoided meeting his gaze.

"What battle? What happened? Was it after I was knocked out?"

Scarlet nodded. "We were attacked by Murkrow and she suffered heavy damage. And I was... unable to defend Silver adequately." There was a gasp from Raven as Scarlet hung her head low with shame. I stared, finding the reaction to that statement a little extreme.

'_I guess Scarlet failing at anything concerning Silver is a big thing. ...That's not really surprising. Come to think of it, what level is she anyway? 25? 30? She took on a Tyranitar so she's gotta be fairly powerful...'_ I wasted a few more seconds in my musings before going back to the conversation.

"Well, actually, we were only attacked by one Murkrow. He sneak-attacked us without warning though so it was totally unexpected! And Scarlet did a great job fending him off, even if I did get hurt first. There was also another Murkrow that showed up; a really old one, but he told me that he was only there to pick up the first one. He said he wanted to talk to me about something too. The next time we meet up." I trailed off slightly as Scarlet fixed me with a glare that clearly said "**You spoke with the enemy**!?!" when the sound of movement caught our attention. Looking up, I tried not to jump back in shock when I saw Silver leaning right over us, a strange look on his face as he realised we had spotted him.

"How did you get out of your pokeballs?"Scarlet and Raven, who had fallen silent with the sight of our trainer, meekly pointed towards me. I gulped, suddenly feeling put on the spot.

'_Oh no, is he angry? I forgot about what Silver might think if I let everyone out.'_ I looked up at him and chuckled sheepishly; hopefully, he wouldn't be too mad...

"So you can open pokeballs as well. A Joy last night told me you were between two to four months of age and completely wild but I doubt it. You're too smart." The red-head sighed as he pocketed his pokeballs before narrowing his eyes sternly at me. "I don't mind if you want to let everyone out, but next time, get permission from me first. The same goes for any other tricks of yours as well. Understand?"

I nodded cheerfully and jumped up, happy I wasn't in trouble; completely forgetting about my injured leg. Of course, I remembered it rather painfully when I landed.

I gasped and paled again while behind me, Raven winced. Scarlet just sighed before rolling her eyes. I glared back at her. _'So what if I'm so stupid I forgot about my stupid leg?! I'd like to see her do any better if she was me! Oh darn... It's really hurting this time too... Ow...'_ I froze as Silver frowned.

"Your leg hurts?"I lowered my head leaf and milled about awkwardly before nodding sheepishly, a blush on my face. '_I hate being injured. It's like getting sick on an excursion day at school...like you're a burden on everyone else. It's embarrassing.'_ The blush on my face deepened when I remembered just how many times that had happened to me too.

Silver's serious voice cut though my thoughts. "When you move your leg, which position makes it hurt most?"

I thought about it for a moment before stretching my leg out forward. 'When it's like this," I then tapped the ground with my paw, "Or when I put weight on it."

Getting my point, even though all he heard was "Chi, chiko, chi, ri." and "**AGGH!**" after I accidently put too much weight on said foot again, Silver nodded slightly then scowled, his silver eyes staring so intensely it felt like he was cutting me with them.

Maybe he **was** mad.

"Fine..." My eyes widened as Silver leaned over to pick me up. About to struggle against the unfamiliar grip, I went still when Silver let out an annoyed sigh. "Don't move. I can fix your leg Chikorita, but it **is** going to hurt and if you attack me or struggle, I will not be happy, understood?" I nodded again and Silver smiled dryly.

"Ok. That's good." Lifting me up, he then placed me next to him on the bed before gripping my leg with one hand and placing the other behind my back.

"Now." Shoving my leg back, I bit my lip hard as a loud '**pop'** came from it. I winced as both it and my shoulder exploded with an intense pain which then faded away almost immediately. I looked up at Silver with wide eyes.

"It was dislocated. The machines at pokemon centres can't fix dislocations, and Nurse Joys don't alwaysnotice everything. Can you walk yet?" The trainer watched as I hopped of the bed. "If it starts acting up, let me know and I'll fix it again."

I nodded then watched as Silver pulled a tiny capsule out of his jacket and pressed a small button on its side. There was a small flash, not unlike that from a pokeball, and a large suitcase appeared.

My eyes widened in surprise. _'Oh wow... It's really not every day you see a minisizer around! I wonder how he got it; those things cost a bundle.'_

For those of you that don't know, minisizers are a type of technology that, like their name suggests, are used to shrink items. They aren't exactly well known seeing as even the cheapest minisizers are about ¥9000000.00* and up. You'd think they'd be used more, but since most can't carry electrical items or liquids they're limited in their use so only rich people like expert trainers usually have any.  
To see someone like Silver, who I had assumed was a newbie trainer, with one was actually kind of incredible. I resisted the urge to wolf whistle.

As Silver pulled off his shirt (I looked away, I swear!) and went to change clothes, I turned to face my team mates and waggled my tail happily.

Still looking a little worried, Raven waddled over and frowned. "Are sure you're alright Miss Chi? I'm not sure what a 'dis-lu-cation' is but it sounds nasty." I smiled a little as the Totodile fumbled over his words.

"Yeah. I'm alright. A dislocation just means that one of your bones or muscles is in the wrong spot and has to be put back. I'm surprised that Silver was able to do that though; normally you need a year or two of doctor's training before you can do that to someone else safely." I looked to Scarlet who shrugged and flicked her ears back for a moment.

"Silver can heal, command and fight. A master who can't do at least two of those three isn't worthy being a master." I nodded slightly, seeing the logic. "So you're saying he trains himself?"

Scarlet rolled her eyes, before shooting both me and Raven a meaningful glance.

"Silver has trained himself to be a worthy master since long ago! If anything, you two are the ones who need training; both of you are too weak." Before I could argue, Scarlet fixed me with her glare. "Hiding things from the team is also a weakness that needs to be gotten rid of, Chikorita."

I cringed as Raven flashed me the same hurt look from before. _'Damn that hurt puppy look. I hate feeling guilt...'_

"I'm sorry. I just didn't want to be a burden. And also... I had this stupid thought that maybe, Silver wouldn't want me around if he thought I was weak..." I felt my face redden with shame when I added the last part.  
It was true too; with how I'd ignored his orders, broken my pokeball and how quickly I'd been defeated by that Murkrow, Silver had lots of good reasons to get rid of me, and I wasn't sure the new Chikorita part of me would be able to take that.

Scarlet twitched with anger at my statement and I winced, fully expecting the Sneasel to attack me. However, before she could lunge, Raven stepped in the way and shook his head. Scarlet glared at him for a moment then retracted her claws mumbling something I couldn't hear.

I blinked, surprised by her submissive behaviour. '_Am I missing something here, or is it just me?'_

"Silver isn't the type to just abandon a pokemon Miss Chi. Sure, he can be absentminded and forget we're there at times, but I know he'd never get rid of you just because you were hurt. Not like other humans..."Raven's eyes glistened for moment before he patted me on the shoulder and grinned. "That being said, I'm sure Silver would be happy if we got stronger, which is fine by me. Do you want to be a good fighter, Miss Chi?"

I nodded half-heartedly and glanced up as Silver (now fully dressed) made his way to the door. Taking a quick look around the room I couldn't help but notice he had taken all his belongings with him, but before I could think more about it Raven tapped me on the shoulder again.

"Come on Miss Chi, it's time to train! I love it when Silver goes trainer heaping!" As the exuberant Totodile dragged me off I just had to ask the dumb question.

"What the hell is trainer heaping?"

....

Well as it turns out, trainer heaping is when someone goes out and challenges every single trainer in the area to a battle and then pummels their pokemon into the ground.

It was now about 2 in the afternoon as I watched Raven use Ice Fang on _yet another_ poor defenceless Hoppip, whose trainer, a girl about the age of 7, returned it to its pokeball and ran off crying. The next trainer, a kid wearing a bug-catching costume ran forward and released a Metapod; both of them oozing confidence. And while Silver showed no reaction to Scarlet lunging forward and mercilessly slashing the poor bug, I winced, disturbed at their ruthlessness.

Honestly, all of these trainers were just little kids with pokemon their parents had probably given them as pets. There was no need to send _Scarlet_ out on them! I mean, I could understand that Silver wanted to train his whole team and that this trainer was an annoying little sod, but it was cruel to just obliterate someone like that. (Not to mention we'd been doing this for hours, and some of the trainers we had beaten were coming back for rematches. I was beginning to feel like a bully.)

I sighed as the bug-catcher returned his Metapod and sent out his Kakuna, screaming that vengeance would be his.

Oh well. At least this had taught me a little more about the team dynamic.  
Silver was, of course, the team leader and was very, very good at what he did. He didn't just order attacks; he'd tell you where and what to hit, how many steps to dodge the enemy by and how your opponent was going to attack you. He was also surprisingly unconcerned when Raven disobeyed his orders or added little extra attacks onto the end of them (which happened a lot), and only seemed to get annoyed with opponents that spent too long talking instead of fighting. Scarlet was the head attacker who Silver mostly sent in when Raven needed a break or if the enemy looked tough... _(There was another scream from the bug-catcher as his Kakuna was knocked out.)_ ...Or if the enemy was annoying. And Raven was the 'tank-in-training', the one Silver sent out most. When his opponents attacked, Raven would just wait on the spot, dodge any attacks then retaliate with a slash or bite attack. Sometimes, if he was feeling worked up, he'd use an Ice Beam or a Water Gun but often he didn't need to. It was really amazing how relaxed he was about the whole thing.

And then there was me, the rookie. So far I had only been sent out three times, the first time against a Hoothoot who I beat with one Tackle, the second against an Oddish who I put to sleep using Grass Whistle and finally a Quagsire so slow that all I had to do was Leech Seed him and wait for him to faint. And since that last fight, I'd been sitting here doing nothing.

Which unfortunately left me with nothing to think about but the events of the previous day, which I had been trying to avoid due to the fact that thinking about it wouldn't help me figure out anything about the reborns, and that it reminded me of the fact that if the old Murkrow showed up to talk to me, I'd have to defend him from Scarlet, who would try to kill him. Horribly.

I sighed again and looked back towards the fighting area wistfully.

"This sucks... Raven's had almost all the fights so far and Scarlet doesn't need training... I want a turn too." I sulked as the bug-catcher fled towards the pokemon centre. "At this rate it'll be hours till I get to fight again and I'm the weakest here right now. I need training dammit!"

"Chikorita, you're up." Up in an instant, I bolted over to Silver, who was watching me closely to see how I reacted to battle. As I made my way over, I noticed that Raven and Scarlet were absent; probably in their pokeballs. Not that I cared much. I was just too happy at finally being able to do something.

Our opponent, a boy who looked about eight or nine, smirked cockily as he threw out a pokeball and released a Rattata, who took one look at me and began to chitter nervously.

I smiled dryly. '_It doesn't matter where you go in life; there's always a kid trainer with a Rattata or Pigdey who thinks he rules the world. Then again, it's kind of nice to know I wasn't the only one who was stupid at that age. Though Nutmeg and I won most of our fights.'_

"Hey, cool guy!" Our opponent eyed Silver critically as he flicked back the cap on his head. "You may be tough and all, but before we start I have to make sure you know all the rules since it's obvious you're still a greenhorn, unlike me!"

I stared dumbfounded as the boy began his speech about not leaving the battle field (in this case, a park in the middle of town), and felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of my head.

'_How on earth had this kid come to the conclusion that Silver was a newbie?!? Everything about him screams 'experience'. Well...except that he's hopeless with a pokedex but he hadn't seen that, I had.'_ I watched wordlessly as the boy continued to explain why it was cheating to use two pokemon against one. I then glanced up towards Silver, who had his fists clenched and whose's eye brow was beginning to twitch. _'Oh dear... I think it's safe to say Silver's not happy about this... I hope that kid shuts up soon or otherwise I'm going to end up being the pokemon of a murderer."_ In front of me, the Rattata belonging to said kid groaned and placed a paw over his face.

"Oh god... I hate it when he tries to show off like this..."

"He does this sort of thing often?" I asked, knocking my head to the side. The Rattata nodded and flicked his ears back in embarrassment.

"Yeah. Kip isn't a bad trainer; he's quite a good one actually, he taught me how to sharpen my teeth and bite through rock, but... every now and then he just babbles on and on. It's just so embarrassing I can't stand it."

"-and remember! If your pokemon takes even one step outside of this line, it'll be disqualified! That's why you should always teach your pokemon these kinds of things or else you'll be in a dog load of-" I winced in sympathy for the poor Rattata then glanced up at Silver, who was very, _very_ close to losing it.

Getting the distinct feeling that action was needed in order to avoid carnage, I extended my vines slowly. "Umm...Would you mind if I tried something? I'm not going to attack you, I swear. I just think it would be better to do something before my trainer snaps."

The Rattata took a single glance up at Silver's face before nodding furiously. Grinning, I extended my vine whips and lifted the Rattata up then held him less than a foot above the ground. Silver, who had noticed what was happening, watched quietly as the Rattata wailed.

"-and then there's type advantages which are basically the first things you've got to kno-HEY! What are you doing to Chip?!"

Pleased that Kip had finally noticed us, I dropped Chip as gently as I could just outside the boundary line and grinned as his trainer gave me a dumbfounded look. Silver held a hand to his face, and I suddenly realised he was trying to hide a smirk. Of course, the second I realised that, Silver noticed my staring and glared at me disapprovingly.

I grinned and shook my head leaf excitedly, ignoring the blush that was spreading over my face. _'I can't believe I got Silver to smile. And to think, I thought he might abandon me this morning.'_ Popping out of happy mode for a moment, I paused to make sure I knew what was going on in the real world.

"I think my pokemon just proved she knows the rules. Do you want to battle with that Rattata or are you just going to talk more?" Silver's icy voice only made poor Kip's face even redder than it already was.

"Of course I'm gonna fight! Chip, get out there and show'em what you can do!" As Kip did his dramatic 'angry trainer pose', Chip walked back onto the field and smiled wryly, his ears tipped forward as a sign of reluctance.

"Pity, I'd almost thought I'd get out of this. Sorry about all of this; I hope you won't hold this fight against me." I shook my head and laughed, glad that this match was finally about to start.

"Don't worry. I like a good fight! And besides, I don't plan on losing."

"Are both trainers ready for battle? Ok, let's go!" Kip's voice sounded so much like a commentator's just then I didn't even question it. The battle was on!

"Chip, use agility followed by a Double Team!" Chip who had been just a meter in front of me, vanished as multiple copies of the Rattata began surrounding me, all identical.

I whistled at the display. That had to be one of the best Double Teams I'd ever seen, even including the ones on TV in the pokemon league.

Trying not to show my nervousness, I yawned as if I was bored and waited for Silver's orders. ...which didn't come. Confused, I glanced up to see Silver frown at me slightly before going back to trying to track Chip's movements with his eyes. Instantly, I realised what he meant.

"Wait! You want me to figure out to beat this guy on my own?! You could have at least told me that before we started, so I could actually have time to think up a strategy, you jerk!"

Of course, no one except Chip (who was kind of busy) and maybe a few other pokemon nearby could understand me, but it did feel good to scream my frustrations to the world. Gathering energy in my head leaf, I looked the Chip-doubles flashing around me and gritted my teeth. _'If he wants me to battle for myself then fine. I'll show him just how good I can be! Stupid jerk!'_

"I'm apologising in advance for this Chip, but Silver, my '_**dear trainer'**_ has decided that I'm to fight this match all by myself today, and as such, I'm going to have to be a little bit violent because I don't know how much force I need to knock you out, and if I don't knock you out instantly, I don't think I'll be able to. Isn't that wonderful?" I snarled as I glared up at Silver, who, of course didn't understand a word from my mouth. He did look at little unnerved though.

"Ok, Chip, it's time for Iron Tail, as fast as you can!" Kip, who had probably been freaked out by all my poke-ranting, finally ordered the inevitable attack.

The real Chip, who was (of course) behind me, lunged towards my back, his tail glowing as brightly as a Steelix's. Turning around to face him, I waited until the very last moment before slamming my head leaf into his face, yellow pollen spraying everywhere.  
As he was sent flying backwards unable to move due the Stun Spore I had just used, I swung my leaf as powerfully as I could to unleash the second wave of my attack, a Leaf Storm.

There were gasps from the surrounding trainers who'd been watching the fight as the storm of viciously sharp leaves shot out from my head leaf and battered the poor Rattata into the air. Finally the barrage stopped and Chip dropped to the ground. After a moment I lowered my head leaf to show how guilty I felt.

Chip was definitely one of the strongest Rattata around and quite well trained judging by the Double Team and the Iron Tail that he had used, but no Rattata was built to take a Leaf Storm to the face like that. He was definitely out of it. Evidently, Kip also knew that, because he broke rule#36 of the O.J.K.P.L.** rulebook (Do not enter a field while there are Pokemon still active), and ran to Chip's side, immediately spraying the Rattata with a revive.

Completely ignoring Silver, I also walked over and used Aromatherapy, which would hopefully get rid of any left-over effects from the Stun Spore. After what seemed like hours (to me. It was actually less than 35.3 seconds, but who's counting?) the Rattata finally twitched awake, made a disgusted face at the smell of the revive, and gave me a good look at his blood-shot eyes. I gulped.

"That. Really. Hurt. A LOT! Do you know how much Stun Spore in the eyes stings? It stings like lemon juice on a really bad graze; it can't kill you but it hurts like crazy. I hate it. It also would have been nice if you had remembered I'm not something like a Golem who can actually take an attack like that last one. You could have **killed** me." I wilted underneath Chip's cold stare.

"I overreacted I guess. It's just I could tell you were a good fighter straight away so...I went all out. I'm sorry." Chip continued to look at me icily as Kip lifted the Rattata into his arms.  
"Apology accepted. Now please go back to your trainer. Now. Kip is worried about me and I am in a foul mood."

Stung by the suddenly cold tone in the Rattata's voice, I nodded and began trudging back in the general direction of my trainer, my whole body drooping as much as it could while still being able to move.

'_Well that sucked. Not only did I have to fight a battle all by myself, the opponent who I thought might consider me a friend now hates me. Figures.' _

"I don't mind fighting you again, just no Stun Spore. I hate that stuff, not you." I froze and turned back as Chip called out to me, his voice a little less huffy than before. "I am also sulking, so any anger in my voice is because of that and because the Stun Spore in my eyes that still hurts. You owe me a rematch." I grinned, relieved that he didn't hate me.

"Alright then. So I'm allowed to Leaf Storm you in that match?"The Rattata snorted and shook his head, giving me a look of disbelief.

"Are you kidding? With that kind of attack I'm going to need a handicap. Like a free attack. We'll discuss it next time." I nodded and beamed happily.

'_Suddenly everything in the world is good again! The grass is green, the sun is warm and I'm so happy I could sing-'_

"Prize money." _'...or maybe not.'_ I glared as Silver walked up to Kip, his expression smug.

No, all was not well with the world. I was still mad with Silver about the whole 'not helping me out in battle' thing. The very least he could have done was warn me beforehand that he was going to let me do all the work. But no, he had to let me figure it out on my own. And now he was daring to take the prize money that I had earned.

Feeling my insides burn with rage, I watched as Kip searched his pockets for money and pulled out about ¥1000.

Then something in me _snapped._

I really don't know what possessed me to do this seeing as my Chikorita-self had been so completely terrified about upsetting him earlier, but when Silver reached for the money, I suddenly found myself shooting my vines out and grabbing it. Completely ignoring the startled shouts of...well... everyone in the area, I threw the ¥500 bill over to Chip who caught the money with his tail, shoved ¥300 in change into Silver's hands before running off with the last ¥200. As I sped away Silver yelled something, but I ignored him, too occupied at the time with my own insane little thoughts.

I **had** to have one right there and then.

I needed an ice-cream.

* * *

There was a '_ding_' as the glass doors of the pokemon centre opened and a dark haired boy made his way to main counter. Smiling at the Nurse Joy who made her way over to him, the teen placed a few of his pokeballs on one of the centre's holding trays before flashing the Joy a flirtatious smirk.

Clearly used to such behaviour, the Joy rolled her eyes and was about to pick up the tray when the teen reached over and grabbed the Joy's sleeve. Surprised, the nurse jerked her arm away and sent the boy the most venomous glare she could muster. As the teen opened his mouth to (no doubt) say something offensive, the Joy snapped at him angrily. "I'm afraid '_**Sir'**_ that no matter what sort of things you may have heard, other than healing your pokemon us Joys have very little interest in people like _you_!"

The teen's face was innocently blank for a moment before a mirthful grin lit up the boy's features. Aware that she would probably get into trouble if she ignored him completely, the nurse forced herself to listen as the teen spoke.

"As pretty as you are, Nurse Joy, that's not why I'm here." The teen's golden eyes sparkled with humour as the Joy huffed at him.

"Oh really? Funny, I've had about six people in the last month with attitudes like that who ended up being kicked out. Fine, I don't care... What do you want? Hurry up and get over with it or I'll leave."

Hand held in front of his mouth, the boy hid his grin behind it until the Joy turned away. Realising she had been serious; the boy instantly dropped all attempts at banter.

"Sorry about that. I'm here as a favour to Prof. Elm. and the New Bark town police and I just wanted to know if you've seen anyone who looks this."Flipping out a photo, the golden eyed boy smirked when the Joy's eyes grew wide.

"Yes, I've seen that boy. He came running in here last night with an injured pokemon and rented out a room. He'll be staying here for a while." Seeing the boy's smile turn grim, the nurse bit her lip. "Umm...if you don't mind me asking, could you let me know why you are looking for him? Is he a run-away or something? He did look rather thin... And I don't think he ate anything last night either..."

Seeing the honest concern in the Joy's eyes, Gold shrugged for a moment before giving her a charming smile.

"I'm not sure exactly, but I give you my word I'll keep an eye out for him. If he returns here, don't bother trying to get into contact with me; I'll be coming back here anyway. Oh, and if you could, please don't tell him anything about this. I've had enough trouble following him here as it is. Thanksyousomuch!"Suddenly grabbing back his pokeballs and dashing off before the nurse could reply, Gold raced outside and grinned as the sleek form of a Glameow appeared at his side.

Releasing his Taillow and Cyndaquil without missing a beat, the teen quickly briefed the team on their mission.

"Okay guys, we've got confirmation he's in the city, now all we need is to bag the guy. Remember, if you don't spot that red hair in about an hour meet back at the pokemon centre, ok...go!" As the three pokemon raced away from their trainer, Gold smile faded softly as he thought back to the lie he had just told.

"Sorry Joy but... if it'll help me find out what happened on that night, the only eye I'll be able to keep out for him is the one to make sure he can't run away."

* * *

Notes:

* (Very) Roughly about $9000 AUS (I think). In order words...a lot of money.

** O.J.K.P.L. = 'Official Johto and Kanto Pokemon League'. Will often be abbreviated because to write it all out is annoying.

* * *

_**Yay! End of the chapter! ...Well actually, it's more like the end of part1 for this chapter...since the character I was supposed to introduce this chapter will be in the next one. Sorry Silver Leafx, Kouri will definitely be in the next chapter. I've already written the part she's in, so yeah. Sorry about the delay.**_

_**Also, this is a desperate plea to all those sending in OCs: Could someone PLEASE send in a normal pokemon OC? I love the OCs people have been sending in (like Red, Teal and all the others) and I know how I'm going to use all of them, but really, I have more than enough human and reborn OCs now whereas normal pokemon are always going to be needed.**_

_**Thanks again to all those who have sent in OCs. I'll be sure to post a pic of them on my DeviantArt page at some point as a way of thanks so yeah. Thank you.**_

_**  
And please feel free to Review! I love the feedback and I love hearing what people have to say about the characters and stuff. It's my happiness in life~**_


	6. Icecream Comedy Drama

_**Author's note: Hello again...'sighs'  
I was so sure the characters would be out of Violet City by now... It looks like this fic is gonna be about twice the length I thought it would be. Oh well, the more the merrier right? I'm not sure that applies here but 'meh'.  
Thanks as usual to all you wonderful readers out there as well as a very special thanks to those that reviewed. THANK YOU!!!! **_

_**Also, for those who read chapter2 before I published this chapter. I've changed a few details and Chi the Chikorita now has storm blue eyes instead of red. This is important much later in the story so I'm correcting it now. **_

_**Disclaimer time! I own nothing pokemon except the games I bought and this plot that's in my head. However if you do own the rights to Pokemon and you ever feel like selling, I'd love to buy~ X3**_

_**Now...ON WITH THE FIC!**_

**Chapter 6: Ice-cream = Drama + Comedy**

_**Chi POV.**_

As nice fluffy white clouds floated overhead and the nice warm sun shone down on the soft grassy patch of park I was sitting in, I hummed cheerfully to myself as I bit into my 'wonderful' choc-chip covered ice-cream.

If someone, human or pokemon had walked down the path nearby and seen the cute little Chikorita sitting there and eating her ice-cream, innocently humming away, they would have thought I didn't have a care in the world.

Well, they were wrong. I was having a panic attack.

It was one of those nice, quiet, panic attacks you get, not the kind that has you screaming up and down the hallways; but the kind you get when you look completely normal to everyone else, but on the inside you _wanted_ to be the one running up and down screaming in the hallways.

'_What the __**HELL**__ had possessed me to be such a lunatic?! For god's sake, I've just stolen from ie: betrayed my trainer, who I had actually started to respect, for a bloody __**ice-cream**__! I don't even __**like**__ most ice-cream. And why the hell haven't I thrown this crap away yet? It's too sweet and I hate it.'_ Is what I should have been screaming. Emotionally, logically, probably even spiritually; everything was telling me that this is what I should be doing.

But no, instead I was sitting in the middle of a park I had no idea how I got into, licking a disgusting sugary ice-cream I must have been insane to buy, and hoping like mad that when Silver did manage to find me, he had given strict instructions to Scarlet not torture me much before she killed me. (I was under no illusions about what Scarlet was going to do.) I even managed to look calm.

Deciding that I was completely doomed by this whole mess anyway, I sighed and looked up the sky above me.

It was so peaceful around here; pity Scarlet would butcher me so soon after starting my new life. Gold, Soppie, my parents, the ruins of Alph... all the things I had really wanted to see before I died a second time... Poof, into thin air. And all I had accomplished was keeping an old bear company and saving a jerk from getting killed by crows.

I smiled at bit at that thought and closed my eyes.

Actually I was rather proud about being friends with Papa, and saving Silver the way I did was rather awesome. And still, even if Silver was a complete jerk (I was _still_ a little miffed about earlier) I still wouldn't have wanted him to die all alone like that. It just hit... It just hit me a little close to home.

"Hey there Miss Chi! Come on Miss Chi, wake up! Come on...Please?" I grimaced as I heard what had to be Raven's voice trying to call me from my daydreams, and sighed, slightly disappointed that I had even less time breathing than I had thought.

"Please don't talk to me, Raven. I'm trying to enjoy my last few moment of life before Scarlet comes to kill me, by reflecting on it and pretending that I am not going to die. Please don't remind me of my approaching doom."

The voice it seemed was not deterred by my pleading and continued to try to move me. "Oh come on little Chigusa~ Please get up. Please, oh please, oh please?" I frowned as my mind slowly registered the words being said._ 'Hang on a minute...Raven doesn't talk like that. And Papa calls me Little Chi not little Chigusa, so who is that..?'_

"SKYE FLOWCIA ROYALL! I DID NOT GO MORE THAN 38 HOURS WITHOUT SUGAR OR STRAWBERRY JELLO JUST SO YOU COULD SNUB ME WHEN I CAME TO DO MY JOB! WAKE UP NOW OR I SHALL MAKE SURE THE UNIVERSE CEASES TO EXIST AS OF NOW OR AT LEAST DO SOMETHING THAT YOU WOULD REALLY **REALLY** NOT LIKE!" I shot up instantly, my eyes as wide as physically possible as I stared at the irate pink cat floating in front of me.

"Mew?!" The legendary pokemon grinned as I stuttered, still too shocked to even think of anything more coherent to say.

"Ah, good. You remember me. Good, very good. I'd ask how you were but I have a job to do 'cause somehow Cele-**Bastard**managed to convince uncle Acreus and Mother Mew to put me on sugar probation until I get it done and I **need** my fix so here's what I need to tell you: As of 14:34:03 O'clock on October 8th, Johto standard time, Silver Sasaki was not confirmed dead at Violet City public hospital after being brought there three hours before by a Mr. Gold Harlen. There! I've done my job! _**CanIhavesomesugarnow??"**_

Rapidly trying to decipher anything that I had heard Mew say in the last 50 seconds, I tried not to run as Mew fixed my ice-cream (and the vine that was holding it) with the same kind of maniacal look a heroin addict gives a needle full of the stuff after three months of not having any.

I threw it to him and watched in a sort of petrified fascination as he swallowed it whole.

There was a huge belch and Mew giggled for a moment before turning back to me.

"Thank you so much, Chi-chan~ If you hadn't given me my fix, it would have been just _awful_. I owe you sooo much for this!" As Mew continued to talk in sugar-depraved babble, I heaved a sigh and looked at him jadedly.

"Yay. Great for you. Do you think you could explain what your message just now meant, because you spoke so quickly that I only got about half of what the heck you said? Oh, and then could you get me in contact with a funeral director? Because by the time you finish telling me, Scarlet will be here torturing me to death!"

Mew nodded obliviously, not quite understanding how serious the situation was. "Oh sure, but why would she kill you? I thought your new team loved you already. Oh and sorry, the message I delivered is a one-time only one. Cele-fairy said that even if you misheard it, I was not to repeat it, though maybe I should just to spite him." The evil look in Mew's eyes was all I needed to warn me away from this idea.

"Never mind about the message, I can live without it. As for why Scarlet will kill me; well, for some reason I went crazy, stole some money off Silver and bought that stupid, disgustingly sugary ice-cream that you just ate. I don't even know _why_. If I didn't know better I could have sworn I'd been possessed..." My speech slowed as Mew began edging away. "...by a psychic pokemon..."

Realisation began to trickle into my skull and I stared at the floating kitten in a mixture of disbelief, rage and awe.

"No way...you didn't... You did, didn't you?! Do you know how much crap I am in just because of your stupid need for sugar?! For Acreus's sake, why didn't you just steal the stupid money yourself, or better yet, go and steal all of those F%#ing ice-creams from the cart I bought that one from?! AGGH! When I get to Lv55 you are SO dead!"

Mew shrugged his shoulders cheerfully and began floating upside as I continued to rant. And despite still wanting to bore holes in his side with the power of my glare (GO, my imaginary DEATH RAY!), after about a minute of watching him I was forced to look away due to the vertigo it caused.

Finally Mew seemed to sense just how distraught I was and floated down to pat me on the back. I glared up at him, teeth bared; Mew just smiled pleasantly before doing his happy 'ping-pong in the air' thing.

"Don't worry, I've got it all covered. Being a psychic all I had to do was rewrite everyone's memories a little bit. Now they all think the money was stolen by someone else!" I blinked at Mew with so much blind hope there were tears in my eyes.

"You mean Silver and Scarlet won't want to chop me in to little bits anymore? That's great! But... If you rewrote their memories of what happened, then what do they think happened to me? I mean, it can't be all that bad... " I froze when Mew began to chuckle evilly.

"Ha ha, well, you see...It really is very funny..."

* * *

"A pink Abra." Muttered Silver under his breath as he stormed through Violet City. "Who the hell has their pokemon and money stolen by a fucking PINK Abra?! Sure, I have bad luck. I know that, but this is... ridiculous!"

The sun was just beginning to tip the horizon as Silver searched desperately through Violet city's streets. A casual observer might have commented on how calm-faced the red head was given his situation but had anyone been so un-wise, Silver would have done his best to snap that person's jaw in two.

It was bad enough that he'd had money taken, but a pokemon he'd just caught the day before? Even more frustrating was that this pokemon was one Silver _wanted_. Her strength, endurance and even how she had fought when he'd forced her to battle on her own; the Chikorita was simply too much of a catch to let someone else take her without a fight. But the worst thing about all this was how publicly it had happened; the pink Abra, the twenty odd trainers that had witnessed the event who'd 'volunteered' to hunt the Abra down (but who were just as likely to steal the Chikorita themselves) and the fact that all of them knew what he looked like... There was no possible way the hunters wouldn't hear of this.

The only good luck he could see in all this was that it hadn't been staged by a professional. A professional thief would have waited until he had stopped battling for the day and gotten out of sight before attempting anything. Getting an Abra to teleport onto a public battlefield to steal a pokemon in front of almost twenty active trainers wasn't exactly the smart. And if it had been one of _those people_...  
He forced himself not to shudder. If it had been one of them, it wouldn't have ended with just a theft. It would have been a **massacre**.

So this just left three options: First, a local (not very talented) thief. Second, a trainer's pokemon that was merely playing, or third, a wild pokemon who, despite what all its instincts would have been telling it, had decided the large group of humans seemed interesting enough to investigate.

A local thief seemed like the most likely option but he couldn't completely disregard the other two, no matter how unlikely they were. And there was also the possibility someone was playing a prank but if that was the case, it was likely that whoever did it would return the Chikorita soon, meaning it would still be best to search the area anyway.

But, assuming it was a local thief who'd stolen his Chikorita, that meant that the there was a very good chance the thief would still be in the area, unable to move far without the Chikorita being seen. There was also a good chance the Chikorita would fight back against her kidnapper; or at least Silver hoped so. She **had** been rather angry at him during that battle earlier... Well, at the very least she wouldn't be that hard to track down.

"Hey cool guy, wait up!" A shout from behind him reminded Silver of the _**other**_ reason his temper was beginning to fray.

Kip, the annoying, over-talkative trainer who Silver had defeated just before his Chikorita had gone missing, ran over to him with a huge grin on his face. Proudly flashing a victory sign, the boy posed before thrusting two metal rods into Silver's hands.

"Here cool guy, use these! They're itemfinders. My grandma told me once you could find anything with these. Using these, I'm sure we'll find your Chikorita soon!"

As Kip practically shone with goodwill and happiness, Silver twitched and willed himself not to throw the useless bits of metal at the boy's face.

Two hours. It had been two whole _**fucking**_ hours since his Chikorita had vanished leaving him here with this...this _idiot_! Admittedly, it did seem Kip was honestly concerned about his predicament but still. Itemfinders were only cheap gimmicks used to fool the superstitious or senile, and even **if** they did work, they meant for _items._ Not pokemon!

"Hey look! There're pointing to the old alleyway near Sprout tower!" Kip pointed excitedly as the metal rods turned ever so slightly in that direction. "I'll bet we'll find it over there, so come on, let's go already-hey, what are doing?!?"

During the boy's ramblings Silver had passed the 'itemfinder' to the boy's Rattata (which Silver was convinced was at least 50 times as smart as its trainer) before turning to head off in the opposite direction.

Angered by Silver's uncaring attitude, Kip raced after him, a frown destroying what might otherwise be considered a 'cute' face.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?! Your pokemon might be back there! Are you giving up?!" Silver rolled his eyes and sighed as Kip blocked his path obstinately.

"I've already sent my Sneasel out to search for my Chikorita but if you're so convinced she's over there you go and look. I am going to the pokemart to buy some potions and revives because I need to stock up." Taking a step to the side, Silver was about to push past the boy when Kip grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

Freezing from the split-second panic he always felt when anything other than one his pokemon touched him; Silver's face was like stone as Kip glared up at the older trainer accusingly.

"How could you think of items when your pokemon is out there all by itself?! You should be out there looking for it; not shopping! How could you be so heartless?!" Silver looked down coldly as the boy shook with righteous rage. Batting the youngster trainer off his arm, the red-head sighed through gritted teeth.

"As I told you, my Sneasel is out searching, and if I don't get to the pokemart before 5 they close, meaning if any of my pokemon get too injured for me to take straight to the centre I won't have the medicine to treat them. I would like to be the one out searching, but Scarlet has far better a far better sense of smell and hearing than I do and she doesn't know how to use money. Do you understand now or do I have to waste my time on you and explain again?!" Seeing that Kip was too stunned by his response to answer, Silver took that as his chance to escape and left the passionate nine year-old and his Rattata to think it over as he headed toward the centre of town.

* * *

_**Chi pov **_

"A _pink_ Abra? Why? I mean, it is funny and all but... Oh stuff it; I am **so** screwed now that I don't even care about it anymore. And when will you let me go back? I wanna go back now before Silver decides he doesn't need me." I flopped to the ground in a sulk as Mew poked his tongue out.

"Cause pink is cool, of course! And no, you can't go. Dear 'mammy Mew told me you couldn't until your family comes to pick you ah~ah~up!" I groaned as Mew sang his answer in some random made up accent that made me want to pull my ears (if I had proper ones) out. Perhaps I was over-reacting a little, but after being forced to put up with this for more than an hour, I thought it was justified.

After hearing Mew's explanation of what he had done to 'clear my name' and realising how big a scene a _pink_ Abra kidnapping a trainer's pokemon must have been, I had tried to leave the clearing only to find myself running back into it. It took about three times for this to happen while Mew was doubling up with laughter to make me realise I wasn't leaving anytime soon. To make matters worse, no matter how many times I asked why I couldn't leave, Mew's answers either made no sense or were just him talking to himself. I couldn't even beat the damn bastard up, because he kept dodging my attacks! I was now an angry mixture of frustrated, confused and annoyed, and I was seriously beginning to understand why Celebi had been hitting Mew every few seconds.

But when life gives you lemons, or in my case an insane legendary... Talking is about all there is left to do. So I did.

"So...who's this Mother Mew again..?" I asked not really caring if I got an answer or not, with my mind being so distracted by other things. (Like escaping and/or murdering Mew so sneakily he wouldn't be able to stop me) Mew, in what seemed to be a rare fit of sanity, paused thoughtfully for a moment before answering.

"Mamma Mew is... well, she's the first Mew out of all the Mews. Sort of like uncle Acreus is the first of all the Acreuses and the ugly old scale-head is the first Dialga of all Dialga. It's sort of complicated but they all act like bosses and make sure the rest of us do what we're told to. Mamma Mew is the nicest though; except when it comes to our clone brothers. She really hates them...Something 'bout Mewtwo being mean and hating sugar, which is impossible 'cause **everyone** likes sugar and-" I blinked, surprised at the amount of understandable information. Aside Mew's last few comments, all of that had been really interesting... I shot up as the greater implications of what he had just said trickled into my little brain.

"Wait! Ignoring the stupid part of what you just said, you said "first Mew of all Mews" right? Just how many of you guys are out there?! Does this mean that there are multiples of _every legendary_?! Do Mews breed or are they born from living rock formations like 'the tree of beginning' over in Kanto? Are Entei really born from volcanos? Please, you _have_ to tell me, I need to know this kind of stuff!"I quickly started shouting off random questions, completely forgetting about my current predicament of being trapped.

Back when I had been human, I had always been really into pokemon research and the studies of Legendaries and pokemon biology had been my specialties. In fact, in year9 of high school (the year before my intended pokemon journey) I had gotten such a reputation for it that Prof. Elm had actually started visiting my house to get my help with some of his research; which was pretty cool, even if I did have to learn all the boring computer and maths stuff to understand the work.  
...Come to think of it, if I had wanted to, I probably could have become his assistant and eventually a great pokemon professor myself one day.

Gold was right; I was a nerd.

But back to the present for the moment.

Mew seemed unconcerned by my intensity and began chasing his tail while answering. "Yeah, there are lots of everybody except the Hoenn guys; with the Kyogre and Groudon always fighting, boss Rayquaza got the rest of us to sign a petition against them increasing their population, and the Deoxys and Jirachi are always disappearing off to go do random things, and... Wait. Who gets born from a rock?" Mew's happy grin disappeared as he finally registered what I had actually said. "I'm not a rock! We Mews are made from sugar and spice, and all things nice; Mamma Mew said so! Don't you humans know anything? You creatures are so ignorant!" I had to really fight the urge to laugh as Mew glared at me, his tail fluffing out behind him like a giant pink feather duster. However before I could commit verbal suicide for the second time in as many days, Mew suddenly looked upwards, his manic smile instantly back on his face.

"Yay, the paddy wagon has arrived~ ALL GREEN JELLYBEANS SHOULD BE BOARDING!" I winced from the volume of sound that came from Mew's lungs, but before I could reply, there was a loud screaming sound and a black, red and blue thing came hurtling out of the sky, landing with a loud '**thump**' onto the ground in front of me.

There was a quiet groan and the dust cleared to reveal a Sneasel about half the size of Scarlet, whose feathers, which should have been a dark crimson red, appeared to be dyed on the tips with a bright cerulean blue. As another groan came from the black and red lump, I suddenly remembered I was actually there and helped lift the Sneasel to her feet with my vines.

Clutching a claw to her head, the Sneasel staggered a bit before giggling. Concerned I placed a vine to her forehead.

"Are you...alright?" At the sound of my inquiry, the Sneasel jumped to her feet and laughed heartily, before quickly shutting her eyes again.

"Yeah, as well as you can be after falling about two hundred metres to the ground. Did you see where my ride went? We were supposed to be meeting someone around here. By the way, which is better, Skitty or Spinarak? I like Skitty more but that's only because I find spiders creepy and I met this Spinarak a while back that wanted to eat me." I felt sweat trickle down my forehead as she began listing the reasons she found Spinarak were creepy. _'Oh great. Someone as random as Mew."_

As if able to read my thoughts, the Sneasel girl's eyes shot open to meet mine and then-

_**-A girl about the age of thirteen with short black hair, dashed through the forest as rain bucketed down upon her. Not seeming to mind the storm, the girl paused in her run to pant for a moment; her now soaked clothes clinging tightly to her pale skin. Suddenly there was a rumbling of thunder and the girl flinched as a bolt of lightning flashed not far behind her. There was a loud painful creaking of timber, and the girl turned to see the tree that had just been struck begin to tumble towards her. Unable to get out of the way, the tree crashed on top of her, squeezing the air out of her lungs and-**_

...and just like the time I had met the old Murkrow, I staggered a bit as my eyes tried to focus. In front of me, the Sneasel girl was shaking her head wildly and muttering something under her breath, but before I could focus on her properly, a voice I recognised chuckled.

"So you live, young'en Sneasel. I thought for sure that fall would've cracked your skull, but it looks it's as hard and as thick as your grey matter. Ah! I see you've greeted the other lassie here already, speaking of which... Hello there Chikorita lass! You're looking well." My eyes widened as the old Murkrow from the day before, flew towards us, his raggedy wings beating softly against air.

Taking care to land right next to the Sneasel girl, the Murkrow rolled his eyes at her behaviour before turning to me. For some reason, my brain had gone blank and all I could manage as a hello was:

"It's the old Murkrow guy..."

As the crow raised an eyebrow menacingly, I realised my mistake and swished my head leaf awkwardly.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to say that, it just slipped out! Umm...err...You look quite young actually, I mean..." Before I could think of anything better to say, the old man motioned for me to stop before chuckling again, though this time his amusement was aimed solely at me.

"Ah, yes. I've had that little nickname used a lot in my lifetime lassie, but if you don't mind I'd prefer something a little less truthful about my appearance. The human name is Carlos MacVanbrit but nowadays most call me Mr Salt; I do no' mind either way." The old Murkrow- I mean, Mr Salt ('whistles innocently') held out a wing expectantly. I smiled and tapped the wing tip with my vine.

"My name was Skye Royall, but I go by Chigusa or Chi for short. Sorry about earlier, sir- I mean Mr Salt," I quickly corrected myself as there was another raised eyebrow. "And thank you for yesterday. I wanted to thank you then but I was kinda...out of it at the time."The Murkrow shook his head and smiled as he pulled out a cigarette out from somewhere in his feathers. Then somehow pulling out and using a lighter, Mr Salt took a deep puff of smoke before replying.

"No need to thank me young'en, it was my own fault for letting that wild peahen of a pokemon out of my sight. Anyway, I came here like I promised to teach you anything you might need to know about being one of us reborns since you seemed so clueless before. O'course, if that guy _over there_," Mr Salt jerked his head towards Mew who had been watching us quietly, "-was doing his job, you'd have no need for me. But the Legendaries have always been slack when it comes to us 'normal mortal' types. Even the 'not-pokemon' are better when it comes to consideration. "

Insulted, Mew flashed Mr Salt a hurt look before growling and thrashing around in the air.

"That's mean, Mr Old-boney man! I always do everything exactly as Mamma tells me to; it's not my fault if she forgets stuff sometimes. And the Anti's aren't good; they're bad, Bad, BAD! They're mean and boring and selfish and they always cheat in everything! I hate them! And besides, this time I was told _not_ to explain things on purpose! Anyway, I've done my job and got her to wait for you here so I going to get some sugar now, so there, Mr Meanie!" Eyes teary with childish rage, Mew stuck his tongue out and flew off, as Mr Salt smirked.

As Mew disappeared out of sight, I was about to ask Mr Salt why he had been so nasty to Mew when claws flashed out right in front of my face. Shrieking, I leapt backwards and tripped, falling on my back with my legs in the air. The Sneasel girl who caused my little mishap slapped the ground with her claws as she began to laugh her head off.

"Hahaha! I can't believe you freaked out over that! Your face was all "Ekkk! Save me from the big bad monster!" It was hilarious!" As the Sneasel dropped to the ground from laughing so much, I got up and tried to ignore the fact that my face was beet red.

"What the hell was that for?! I thought you were attacking me. You should do stuff like that to people who don't have a reasonable fear of having their eyes plucked out!" The reborn frowned and flicked her ears back before getting back up.

"Hey, all I did was wave a claw in front of your face. You don't have to get all upset. Anyway, what was that all about? You know, that memory of yours when you died. Who was that guy that got you with the knife? An ex? A stalker? Some random hobo of the street?" I winced at the girl's choice of words before shaking my head slightly.

"I don't know. I didn't even see anybody; I only knew I'd been stabbed because I saw the knife sticking through my chest-Wait. Why am I telling you all this? Who're you?" The Sneasel shrugged.

"I don't know; you're the one that answered. And as for my name, well, for now you may call me 'Kouri the great pokemon empress of weirdness' or Kouri the G.P.E. for short. I also like being called Cha Cha but that name is only for people I consider close, not you. ANYway... Old man! You said you were going to tell this girl stuff so hurry up and do it so I can go already! You promised me you'd help me form Team Dark..." Ignoring her adorable pouting face, Mr Salt gave Kouri a withering glare.

"Lassie, I'd prefer it if you called me something else, and the only reason I brought you here was because until yesterday, you were just as ignorant- no, you're _**still**_ as ignorant as the lassie here. As for that team of yours, I won't be helping you with anything unless you **sit down and listen**!" Both Kouri and I sat down quickly as Mr Salt flashed the **e**vil **e**ye. Turning back to me, Mr Salt's frown faded into an apologetic grimace. "Sorry about that; I met the Sneasel lassie here only a wee while after I encountered you. Ah knew right away she was a reborn when we exchanged memories but like you, she did no' know about others like us; those of us that were once human. O'course, it's been a self-imposed task of mine to inform young'ens like myself of what's going on but you two are the first I've seen in years-" Mr Salt paused as Kouri raised a claw. "Yes, Sneasel lass?"

Kouri flashed me a conspirator's grin before fluttering her eyelashes charmingly. "Please, Mr great teacher sir, do get on with it. Me and the rest of the class want our lessons and not your babble, sir." I snorted, trying not to laugh as Mr Salt began muttering under his breath about strangling 'two wicked lassies before they caused too much damage to the general public'. Beside me, Kouri's face was lit up by an evil grin. Finally, after much muttering and flapping of wings, Mr Salt sighed and turned back to us, a smile forced onto his face.

"You young'ens are sharper and meaner than the brats back the flock. Much more annoying too. Ah well, I was waffling a bit. Fine, here's what you need to know. First: You're both reborns, meaning that both of you were human until you died, and both of you were brought back to life as pokemon, either by one of the 'Anti-pokemon' or by one of those blasted legendaries." Mr Salt's voice grew serious as he started the second line. "Second: when a reborn locks eyes with another reborn, we swap the memory of how we died with'em; meaning that it's likely that the both of you will see a few nasty things like murder or rape in these little snippets of memory which may very well scar you two for life. And third thing is never kill someone as a reborn; no matter how despicable they are unless you really don' have a choice. I hope you never have to find out why, 'cause I'm no' telling you."

The Murkrow then shrugged and began preening his feathers.

"There are also things you will have already noticed, like being illiterate and having different senses and things, but if you really want to I hear you can re-teach yourself just about everything you forgot in your old life. And...I think I've covered everything."As Mr Salt's voice trailed off and Kouri (who I doubt cared about any of the lesson) cheered, I paused, confused by some of the stuff the Murkrow had said. Finally I raised a vine.

Mr Salt took a long puff off his cigarette and pointed a wing in my direction. "Your question, Chikorita lassie?"

I bit my lip and felt my head leaf quiver a bit before replying; for some reason nervous about how my question would sound. (I personally think it was just because Mr Salt reminded me of this old man who used to live near my house when I was little, who always screamed at people who asked dumb questions. But hey, I could be wrong.)

"Ummm...Sir-I mean, Mr Salt. You said that reborns couldn't read right?" The Murkrow nodded as Kouri's ears drooped.

"Yeah, it's true. A little while after I hatched I snuck into a supermarket to get some food but I couldn't read any of the labels, so it took me ages to find the section with anything I didn't need cook. And even then I could only tell the stuff apart by smell. I was half starving at the time so it sucked a lot."

"But I've been reading and writing ever since I hatched!" Both Kouri's and Mr Salt's eyes widened at my outburst. Feeling as if I'd somehow done something wrong, I found myself looking pointedly at the ground.

"I wrote my nickname out for my trainer just after he caught me. I didn't know it was anything unusual or anything, I just did it."

There was a moment's pause and then Kouri screeched. Both Mr Salt and I did our best to cover our ears before she got any louder when the Sneasel stopped, a happy grin on her face.

"I just had to do that! You two were just being so boring and serious. Lighten up! Anyway, you can read... Ever thought of doing some paper work for Team Dark? I'll pay you for it." I cocked my head to the side.

"Team Dark? You mentioned that before... What is it? A rescue team like in those Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games?!" Kouri grinned as my eyes sparkled.

"Sort of, but not quite as nerdy sounding. It'll be a team of wild pokemon including myself that shall challenge the Pokemon League and all the Gym Leaders and beat them all! The old man here is the only one so far I've managed to sucker into this, but sooner or later we're bound to get some wickedly powerful guys to join us. I'd ask you but... you're kinda weak looking, plus you've already got a trainer. But since you can read and write you can sign the papers and stuff to make it official, and I'll be willing to give you about... a _tenth_ of our earnings! Sounds good?" I felt myself twitch with irritation as Kouri grinned; her pointy little teeth making her mouth look twice as large as it was.

'_Honestly! How is calling me weak any way to ask a favour? Not that I'd ever train under someone like her. ...But it is a great idea, wild pokemon taking on the grand Pokemon League with a Sneasel as their leader, their rivals a certain red-headed trainer and his well trained pokemon... That would make such a great story!!!'_ I grinned excitedly then glanced over at Mr Salt who was quietly puffing on his cigarette and giving the Sneasel next to him filthy looks. '_Though whether Mr Salt is actually involved in this is up for debate. But...when it comes right down to it, what have I got to lose?'_

I turned back to Kouri, who had been watching me with intense interest and nodded slowly.

"I don't mind working for you-" Kouri yelped with joy.

"Really?! Thanks! Great to have you as my underling! Hope you can take the workload!" I smiled pleasantly, more than ready for this reaction.

"I will work for you only IF you agree to my terms, and Mr Salt doesn't mind."Kouri paused mid-victory dance and waved a claw dismissively.

"Fine. Tell me what you want and I'll make sure Gramps over here agrees." Suddenly behind her, Mr Salt's feathers bristled and his beck came down sharply to peck the Sneasel on the head.

"I've told you, lassie; **I ****prefer**** being called something else!** And as for this whole shenanigan, Ah am actually interested despite all its silliness; provided I'm not needed for more than a day or two a week, and I get paid for my trouble. I'm sure the flock will no' mind too much if I use it to get extra food. Now, what is the payment you'd be wanting, Chikorita? I'm sure the leader here is aware of just how hard it is t'a find a pokemon that can write. Before now I had only been humouring her with the whole thing but this development makes it plausible." As Kouri gaped at the Murkrow in shock, I quickly totalled the figures in my head.

"Minimum 700¥ per half a page of writing, a few Oran berries every now and then and, if Mr Salt doesn't mind, someone to fly letters every so often to an Ursaring living near Dark cave. Actually, if you do the last one I'm willing to drop the price to 350¥ per half-page. Does this sound good?" Kouri nodded instantly. Mr Salt however, was more wary.

"Does this Ursaring of yours prefer meat or berries? And is it aware that you are a reborn?"

I beamed proudly as I answered, "Papa Bear is vegetarian, and no, I don't think he knows I'm a reborn. But he likes humans and pokemon alike so I don't think it matters. Does it?" The old Murkrow shook his head before clacking his beak.

"No, I suppose no'. I am willing to be a carri'ar pigeon, but do no' count it as part of the page deal, I will do it as a favour to a fellow reborn. And do no' complain, you." The Murkrow narrowed his eyes at Kouri, who waved a claw carelessly.

"Ok, sure, whatever; I'm bored now. Anyway, you are now officially selling us information! Welcome to Team Dark, my dear little minion!" I smiled lopsidedly as Kouri offered up a claw to shake on. About to shake it with my vine I froze as an angry blur of red-tipped black flashed in front of me, silvery claws lashing out towards her.

Instantly, Kouri somersaulted backwards onto her front claws then back even further onto her hind legs again in what looked like one swift movement. I whistled, impressed and was about to go and see if she was alright when another pair of claws gripped my head leaf and pulled me slightly off the ground, to stare directly into fierce crimson eyes.

I chuckled nervously. "Hi there, Scarlet! ...having fun?"

To say Scarlet was angry was an understatement. Placing her left claw just above my right eye (which _really_ freaks me out) the Sneasel's teeth were bared and her ears were flattened right back against her head.

"Selling information, huh? _**Traitor!**_ I knew you were scum the moment I saw you, yet still almost fell for your lies! I would gut you here where you stand if Silver hadn't ordered me to bring you back to him, you traitorous little worm!" Feeling slightly detached as Scarlet dropped me back onto solid ground, I watched blankly as she turned her gaze back to Kouri, who had been watching the psychopath with what almost looked like admiration.

There was a moment of tense silence as the two stared at each other before Kouri broke it by saying, "You are COOL! You're all tough and nasty, but honourable and stuff. Hmm... You should seriously consider getting a job on the silver screen someday; you'd be an awesome actor."

Scarlet blinked.

"_Not once, but twice she'd had that response recently. What did this 'cool' mean anyway? True, she was an Ice-type, but her body temperature was about normal. Was it some sort of code word for the enemy? And what is this 'silver screen' and 'actor'?_" Even only knowing her for less than a full 24 hours I could already tell that those were her exact thoughts. As if to prove my point further, Scarlet raised her head proudly and pointed at Kouri with all the regalness of a queen.

"You! One who associates with the traitor! What information were you trying to get?! Tell me now before I carve the information out of your spy here!" I whimpered as Scarlet placed her claws above my head leaf again. There was a caw of laughter to our left, and I turned to see Mr Salt rub the last of his cigarette into the ground before hiding his beak behind a wing. Scarlet's eyes narrowed as she caught sight of the Murkrow and suddenly I felt my life ticking away by the second.

"I see... The Murkrow from yesterday. I should have known. This 'Chi' of yours was merely a pawn you were using to gather information. Why are you after my master?! Tell me now, or I'll ignore Silver's orders and I'll decapitate both of your servants!" As I paled even further, Mr Salt shook his head in complete disbelief before rubbing his other wing to the side of his head. Suddenly a mischievous smirk, which Mr Salt quickly hid from Scarlet's line of sight (but I spotted), flashed across the bird's features, before the Murkrow let out a heavy, defeated-sounding sigh.

"Ah, I see you've found me out, great warrior of the human. Tell me, what was it that warned you t'a my presence? My charm or charisma, perhaps?" Kouri and I both watched the two of them as if it was a play or TV drama.

Scarlet flicked her ears back disdainfully as she answered.

"The assassin you sent yesterday. He was far too weak to be a leader, though his stealth was impressive. However... what I do not understand is why your servant here protected Silver, or why you yourself did not finish them off when you had the chance! Why?! There's no use in trying to hide it; if you try, I'll kill you." Mr Salt's body shook as the Sneasel edged towards him. Had I not known he was actually trying to muffle his laughter, I would have sworn the Murkrow was huddling in fear.

As all this was going on Kouri scooted over to my side, grinned and sat down, obviously delighted by everything that was happening. Turning to me, the Sneasel's eyes glistened with excitement.

"So, is it true? Were you and the old geezer actually secret spies out to get that trainer of yours, who's actually a prince exiled from his country and is searching the world for his long lost twin brother who has green hair and is into heavy metal and gardening?!" I gave Kouri an exasperated glance.

"No... and what's with all the extra details? Scarlet even didn't say half that stuff." Kouri shrugged and flicked an ear to the side.

"I felt like it, and I mean, come on! That Sneasel of yours is acting as if she's from one of those old samurai movies my grandparents used to watch. Besides it's a good story and I figured you needed someone to talk to." I thought about it for a moment before smiling in agreement. '_It is a great story idea actually; even if the crazy samurai does kill the poor innocent spy. Though... I __**really**__ hope no one's put that in the script..."_

I turned back to the action as Mr Salt who, it seemed had finally recovered from his laughing fit, was now really getting into his part of the 'discovered villain' and was 'confessing his sins'.

"The truth is, we were not after your master, we were actually after you." As Scarlet's eyes widened with shock the Murkrow continued, "The Sneasel lassie that you assumed was my servant is in fact my lord and master, Lady Kouri the Great. She's idolised you for quite some time now and wanted to train under you. So I thought that perhaps that removing your trainer would make that possible. Then that Chikorita came to me begging for us to save her adoptive father, an Ursaring who'd been captured by evil humans. I agreed instantly, but then realised how I could use it to my advantage and told the Chikorita if she wanted us to help her she would have to spy on your group for us. Of course she knew nothing of the plan other than not to interfere." Mr Salt laughed evilly for a moment before lowering his head. "But then at the last minute, she betrayed us and saved that trainer's life. Which unfortunately let my lady here realise what I had planned, and she ordered that I never try to harm your master again. And that is why... I am here now. I was going to simply use the Chikorita to get close to you so Lady Kouri could meet you in person without being in too much danger, but you've discovered us and wasted all my efforts." As the Murkrow gave Scarlet a full Asian-style bow for all her great 'cunning', I found myself looking over at the Murkrow in awe.

'_Where on earth did he come up with all that crap? That was amazing! Was Mr Salt a con-artist back when he alive? I wonder if he'll teach me how to come up with stuff like that if I ask him? I could sure use that skill for fanfics...'_ I paused in my thoughts as Scarlet narrowed her eyes at Mr Salt suspiciously._ 'Oh crap! Don't let Scarlet figure it out! __**Please**__ don't Scarlet figure it out! I really don't want anyone dying before I get back to Silver. I've had a rough enough day as it is!'_

"Who was the Abra?" Scarlet's voice was eerily calm as her fur bristled against the now cooling air. "Tell me the name, Murkrow." I felt sweat trickle down my back as I realised Mr Salt hadn't heard about Mew rewriting people's memories. Instead of looking confused like I would have, Mr Salt merely shrugged.

"A simple wild pokemon Ah enlisted to help me. He was no' willing at first but when I told him that the Chikorita lassie had been kidnapped he quickly changed his mind. Ah did no' bother to ask him for his name." Scarlet nodded as if all was fine and then without warning lunged towards Mr Salt, her claws encased with ice.

Dodging her attack effortlessly, Mr Salt took to the air for a moment before landing next to us other reborns, a grin still on his face.

"Ah would not recommend you fighting me now, Sneasel, as it will no' end well for you. However I am aware my past mistakes have angered you and Ah am willing to make a deal." Scarlet glared at him with hatred before spitting on the ground in front of her.

"I will not make deals with anyone who tries to harm Silver!" Mr Salt raised an eyebrow.

"Not even it helps save Silver's life?" Scarlet froze. Seeing this, the old Murkrow continued, "You see, out there in the woods 'round are few hundred pokemon under Lassie Kouri's command, which, because of my misplaced orders, are out there thirsting for your trainer's blood. Unless me' self and the lady here are let go and able to tell them that the attack's off and done with, your little trainer is a dead man walking. And of course, Ah am willing to compensate your group for all the trouble." Scarlet's eyes narrowed again.

"What do you mean 'compensate'?" Mr Salt took this chance to light up another cigarette before answering.

"I mean letting that little Chikorita lass stay with you. She only betrayed you when it came to information, and she disobeyed m'a orders and saved your trainer, did she no'? I'm also willing to swear an oath never to harm Silver again as long as both my lady and myself are allowed to visit you both every now and then. Anything to add, my Lady?" Mr Salt turned to a strangely confused-looking Kouri.

"Yeah... I've been wondering; Scarlet, are you a guy or a chick? Your head feather is _way_ longer than any other girl's I've ever seen. If I was older I might even think you were cute." Both Mr Salt and I flinched as Scarlet turned and snarled, her face bright red.

"I'm female! Not that that has to do with anything with this." Turning back to the Murkrow, Scarlet's growl shrank until it was her normal voice. "As for you... Fine. I'll go with your deal and keep the little traitor. Just you be warned, I think for one minute you are planning something I'll cut her head right off!"

Finally finding my voice again, I groaned and swished my head leaf awkwardly behind me.

"You know that's not really fair, people. You could at least ask me how I feel about all this-" I shut up as both Mr Salt and Scarlet turned their glares on me.

Realising this was going to take a while I sat down and sighed.

"_Where was Silver already?"_

* * *

It was about another half-hour before the two dark types finished discussing a few minor details (in which Kouri and I ended up playing 'I-spy' to stave off boredom). Nodding in agreement before placing their respective wings/claws in front of them, both Scarlet and Mr Salt muttered something I couldn't hear, and then headed over to pick up their charges. I cowered (just a little!) as Scarlet came towards me.

"You are lucky, traitor. Now follow me back to Silver. And don't dawdle!" I nodded, too nervous to really argue and looked back towards the other side of the clearing to see Kouri stick her tongue out at an angry Mr Salt. I smiled and waved as Scarlet dragged me off by the head leaf.

'_Well that was all kind of crazy. Mr Salt is scary and one hell of a liar but he is pretty nice. And despite how brash she is, I think Kouri might actually be a nice person. I think...I want to see them again soon. Of course, only if Scarlet is in her pokeball-OW!"_ I yelped as Scarlet tugged on the stem of my head leaf again, and getting the hint for a change, I stopped wasting my brain on idle thoughts and plodded behind her silently.

* * *

It was well and truly night by the time we got the Pokemon centre and I was beat. Apparently we were 'followed by enemies' several times (I still maintain I saw nothing) and thus had taken several detours at Scarlet's insistence, all which had led to wild pokemon who were all so angry with us for waking them that we had to battle them.

Now feeling as if I had been attacked today by just about every living creature that could possibly wish me harm, I looked up at the front entrance of the Violet City pokemon centre with tears in my eyes.

"Scarlet... Have you ever realised how wonderful Pokemon centres are? Or how tiring it is to fight battle after battle?"

Scarlet rolled her eyes. "Only because you are a weak, unfit traitor, unworthy of any effort, Chikorita. Your whining does you no good." I sighed and hung my leaf low as we entered through the glass doors.

"You are never going to let go of that, are you? You heard what Mr Salt said; I'm an innocent victim here!" Scarlet's ears twitched as she looked down at me.

"Just because your friends tell clever lies, doesn't mean I fall for them." My eyes widened and I was about to ask why she was still calling me traitor then, when she continued, "The only reason you are off the hook is because the old Murkrow made a pact with me stating he would make sure none of you would harm Silver intentionally, and I doubt he is enough of an idiot to break it. It is interesting though that a pokemon of his calibre would be willing to give up one of his close team-members so easily. No doubt, you'll still be snooping around for information. I will tolerate it, for now, but only if you report to me exactly what you'll be informing them. Any breach of this rule and I will rip your throat out." I sighed, inwardly kicking myself for even entertaining the notion that Scarlet could be sane before glancing around the centre curiously.

"Ok, whatever you say Scarlet. So... where is Silver anyway?" Just as the words came out of my mouth, I spotted a flash of red hair near the computer section* at the far side of the centre. Before I could make my way over however, I was bowled backwards as Raven sprang out of nowhere and gave me a gigantic tackle/hug.

"Oh thank god, Miss Chi, you're back! I was so worried! Are you ok?" I smiled at the oversensitive crocodile before sitting down.

"Yeah, I'm good. Came close to being murdered by Scarlet a few times, made a few new friends and had to fight my way back here against hoards of wild pokemon, but I'm still alive. So, how were you and Silver while we were out? Miss me?"

Raven scratched the back of his head with a claw as his face flushed pink. "Yeah, well, I know I did. I'm not sure how Silver's feeling about it, but he's been really tense ever since he let me out of the pokeball, but said it would be better if he left the searching up to Scarlet, 'cause she's so fast. Right now he's over there checking something 'A-mails', I think." Before I could correct him, Scarlet wacked Raven on the skull and growled again.

"No giving this traitor information! Her 'kidnapping' was nothing more than her taking the opportunity to inform 'her friends' about us. The only reason she's even here is because Silver's orders. Now come on!" Not waiting for a response, the Sneasel strode past us. Raven blinked before giving me a sympathetic look.

"You told the other pokemon the 'Silver in a pokeball' joke while she was there?" I shook my head and sighed.

"No... I made a deal to help them out by reading and writing some stuff for them, and the one I was talking to made a joke that I was selling them information. Guess which bit Scarlet managed to overhear?"

Raven winced and tried to give me an encouraging grin. "Erk. Well... She'll forgive you eventually! And she won't kill you unless she's really, really worried you're after Silver! I know 'cause she used to act like this around me as well, though she seems to dislike you a lot more..." Raven trailed off thoughtfully as I sighed.

"...Yeah. Let's just get to Silver now. At the very least, she isn't going to kill me when he's around." Raven beamed, suddenly cheerful again.

"Oh right. You're so smart Miss Chi. Do you think you could teach me how to read?" I smiled weakly for a moment before starting to make my way over to where our trainer was.

"Umm...I don't know, really. Do you think you can learn?" The determined look on Raven's face was more than enough of an answer. "Ok then. I'll try, but not tonight; I'm too tired." Raven's eyes sparkled with joy and I flushed a little, surprised at how happy he was at my answer.

Trying to ignore both him and the weird fuzzy feeling that was starting to turn my brain to mush, I sprinted the last few metres towards Silver, and sat at his feet, my tail wagging. I then had to duck as claws cut over my head leaf.

"You are still under suspicion, Chikorita. Wait there until Silver notices us!" I rolled my eyes, not even bothering to make eye contact with the Sneasel.

"I was going to do that anyway, Scarlet. Has anyone ever told you that you overreact?" Before Scarlet could respond, Silver finally seemed to realise we were there and turned away from the computer to look at us.

Instantly forgetting about what I'd said, Scarlet stood to attention, a flush of happiness on her face as Silver patted her on the head. Finding it hard to believe that this _**adorable **_sightwas really of the same Sneasel that had tried to murder me numerous times already I turned away, looking for something to remind me of what the real world was like.

Looking up at the computer Silver had been using, my eyes widened as I spotted his e-mail address on the screen and an idea popped into my head. Memorising it, I smirked to myself and waved my head leaf cheerfully. _'I __**have**__ do this at least once; this idea is just too much fun~ Tonight after everyone is asleep would be the best time though, I don't want Scarlet trying to kill me again.'_ Confirming the plan in my head, I giggled and opened my eyes, only to jump slightly when I realised both Scarlet and Silver were staring at me.

'_Oh god. I can understand Scarlet staring but Silver too? Did she telepathically tell him I was a traitor or something?! NO! I DON'T WANNA DIE YOUNG! NOOOOOO!!!!!'_ As I screamed mentally, Raven (who I had only noticed just then) tapped me on the shoulder, a worried expression on his face.

"Umm...Miss Chi..? I know your thoughts are really complex and different and stuff, but maybe next time you think of something interesting, it might be better if you don't laugh as loud and creepy as just you did just then... the screaming is kinda scary too..."

My eyes widened as I realised several trainers were looking towards us with concern and murmuring to one another. Glancing up at Silver, who had already flushed with embarrassment and was now glaring at me in barely suppressed anger, I grinned sheepishly and raised a timid paw.

"Umm... I'm not.. in trouble again, am I..?"

* * *

Gold watched the red-head he had been hunting down, turn an interesting shade of pink before snatching his Chikorita and dashing off to no doubt hide in the rental room he had been staying in. Struggling to hide his laughter, the teen was forced to clamp a hand to his mouth in order not to make too much sound.

Beside him, Nutmeg stretched before nipping him sharply with her teeth. Gold yelped with pain then shot the Glameow an irritated look.

"Hey, there was no need to bite me; I **am** still watching him, you know!" Nutmeg flattened her ears back and hissed. "Ok. You're right... I wasn't paying attention. But that was totally unexpected! I can't help it if it was funny!" The Glameow glared at her trainer disapprovingly but did not bite him again; instead, she snorted and curled up slightly before shooting him a glare.

Gold sighed, getting the gist of what the small pokemon was saying.

"Yeah, I know. This guy is the one lead we have and we can't afford to let him get away. But there's no point us getting worked up about it now; we can talk to him tomorrow. Now let's get to sleep." Ignoring strange looks from a few nearby trainers, Gold pulled a blanket out of his back pack and curled up on the lobby couch he was sitting on before waving to the Joy on duty. The Joy smiled and Gold grinned, now convinced he would be woken up the second that sneaky red-head got up.

"There's no way I'll let you get away from me this time, Silver."

* * *

_**WAHOO! I finally finished the chapter! I'm so happy I could cry! The next chapter is one I've wanted to write since I started this fic, so anyone who guesses what will happen will get a free invisible cookie! X3**_

_**Also, please give a very special thanks to **__**Silver Leafx**__** who donated Kouri the Sneasel, who was introduced this chapter!  
...I'm not exactly sure I got her in character this chapter, but I'll do my best to correct any ooc-ness by her next appearance.**_

_**As for everyone else who's donated OCs, I will announce your names as each of your characters is introduced. (which may or may not take a while. It depends on how this thing goes.) Thanks again for allowing me to use them!**_

_**Also, it's been a while, but here are some updated stats from both Gold and Silver's Pokemon! (Ps, I'll be putting these in every now and then for you to get a general idea of both of their teams. (PPS, I know both teams are over-levelled already so don't worry about it.))**_

**Silver: **Pokemon seen: 9 Owned: 3  
Party: Scarlet, Sneasel Lv41; Raven, Totodile Lv25; Chi, Chikorita Lv22

**...**

**Gold: **Pokemon seen: 13. Owned: 3  
Party: Nutmeg, Glameow Lv34; Explotaro, Cyndaquil Lv27; Wolf, Taillow Lv24

_**Anyway, thanks again to all those reading! Oh! And if you could, please review. I love hearing what you guys think about the fic and any ideas sent in are greatly appreciated. This is Lil' Raven here, signing out~ X3**_


	7. Randomness, Rivals and Accidents

**Author's note**_**: Finally... Finally we're finally up to chapter 7! 'cries' I'm so happy! Finally proper plotline! Plus the mystery of Wolf, as well as Raven's origins shall be solved! ...Ok, not really, but there will be at least some clues and hints now.  
I've also finally decided on the pairings. However, due to the fact I would like this fic to be as similar to an actual book as I possibly can make it, I'm not telling anyone what they are. Hopefully none of you will hate me for it later but I'm willing to take that chance.  
(And for those few of you out there who **__**do**__** know a bit of what I'm planning please try to keep it under wraps, ok? *winks*)**_

_**I AM NO LONGER ACCEPTING OCS! Thanks to all those who sent them in. It may take me a while to introduce them all (some are introduced as late as Ecruteak) but all OCs I have accepted will be major characters in the story~ Sorry to those of you who missed out; if I ever get the chance I'll accept your OCs in another fic sometime.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own rights to Pokémon. If I did, I'd hire fanfiction writers to make their stories part of the franchise. ...Seriously though, with some of the great original stories here on (like reborn fics or **_**Kayasuri-n**_**'s Sword&Shield fics, or **_**lupyne**_**'s 'I am Lucario'), why aren't Nintendo asking around for help? The Pokémon franchise would probably double in size if they did. Oh well~ Too bad for them.**_

_**Now, on with the fic!**_

**Chapter 7: Randomness, Rivals and Accidents. **

_**(Warning: This chapter will contain at least one graphically violent scene that may be considered M. The chapter will also be extra long.)**_

Chi POV.

Well, despite managing to completely humiliate Silver in public, it seemed I was still alive.

Silver had said nothing at all about my sudden laughing and screaming fit (and was probably trying to tell himself it had never happened) while Scarlet had been flashing me menacing looks right up until the point Silver had returned her to her pokeball. The only one who had even tried questioning me about it was Raven, who had ended up being vine whipped in the face because I wasn't in the mood to talk.

I sighed, still curled up on the edge of the bed. Beside me, Silver and Raven slept; Silver snuggled warmly under the blankets and Raven curled up right next to him, just below the pillow. I smiled wearily at the sight before glancing up at the digital clock on the desk nearby.

'_5 AM... I know it's good that I'm awake now, but I wish I had gotten at least __**some**__ sleep tonight...'_ Feeling my muscles creak as I did so, I picked myself up and hopped off the bed, careful to not to make any sound, then tiptoed across the room and used my vines to open the door before sneaking out of the room.

The incident earlier had been embarrassing, but that wasn't going to deter me from the plan I'd hatched. My eyes darted around as I made my way through the empty hallway towards the lobby. Just a few steps away from my goal I paused, hearing footsteps behind me. Turning, I blinked with surprise when I saw a very sleepy-looking Raven behind me.

"Raven? What are you doing..?" Realising that he had been spotted, Raven dashed to my side and flashed me a beaming smile.

"A noise woke me up and I saw you leaving the room, so decided to follow you, Miss Chi. So what are _you_ doing? Something interesting?" I frowned as he wagged his tail, annoyed that my 'flawless' exit hadn't been as silent as I had thought.

"I thought of something I wanted to try out. It's nothing too interesting though so you should probably go back to sleep." The Totodile just smiled before making his way into the lobby.

"I'm not really all that tired, and I am curious about what you're doing. Besides everything is more fun with company!"

I opened my mouth to argue then closed it again. It wasn't like there was any real reason why Raven couldn't come with me, and arguing would only waste time. I sighed and trudged forward. "Fine, you can come, just try to be quiet, ok?" Raven nodded as the both of us made our way to the computer section, ignoring the curious glances of the Nurse Joys on night duty.

Finally reaching the nearest computer table, I used my vines to lift Raven and then myself onto one of the chairs (which is very difficult, let me tell you) then flicked on the power button. As the machine loaded (public computers are **always** slow) Raven began to drum his claws on the table nervously before clearing his throat.

"So...what _**are**_ we doing, Miss Chi? It's not like I doubt it's a good thing, I'm just curious, that's all." I grinned, actually glad that I had an audience to show off my little scheme to.

"Well, I'm going be using this computer here to send an e-mail to Silver." As Raven cocked his head in confusion, I sighed and flicked back my head leaf. "Basically it's a letter which only he can read, that he can't trace back to me." The Totodile's face was lit up with comprehension before flashing me a worried look.

"That's amazing and all, but why wouldn't you want Silver to know you sent it? Doesn't that ruin the point of sending a letter in the first place?" I paused, surprised that he'd thought of that.

"No, not really. All I really want to tell him is that- Oh damn! Why do these stupid things always have passwords!" I swore as the login screen came up on the computer. Groaning loudly I turned and was about to give up on my little plan when I realised a Nurse Joy had been standing behind us the whole time.

I gulped as the Nurse frowned down at us, and before she could say anything, I taped **"CAN I USE INTERNET PLEASE?" **into the username box as fast as I could. The Joy's eyes widened and I stared up at her unblinkingly, hoping like mad that this Joy was as weak as I was against puppy-dog eyes. Immediately the Joy surrendered, flashing me a helpless expression.

"Fine, I'll let you use this computer and I'll put in the password for you. Just promise me that the next time you want to go on you'll come into the Tech-centre during the day-time? And to not damage the machines while you're in here? Or else the Head nurse will be cross with me. Everything out here is supposed to be turned off after 11:30." I nodded and waited patiently as she typed in the passwords needed and logged us in. "I know you Pokémon are always smarter than people think they are, but using the internet..? Ok, well, I've logged you in now, so do what you have to do and go back to your trainer alright? Good night then." The Joy walked off cheerfully and I grinned, relieved that she hadn't thrown us off on first sight. Raven looked to me in a mix of bewilderment and honest curiosity.

"Wow, you controlled that lady like Silver controls us! But what did she mean by 'logged in?' Does that mean she's going to use Grass attack?" I raised my vine to whack Raven for his stupidly bad pun, when I suddenly realised that he had no way of knowing what that term meant. I was just an arrogant human who was being mean and treating him like he was an idiot when he was just ignorant and wanted to learn.

I was being a jerk.

I sighed and lowered my vines back to the keyboard before glancing back at Raven. Seeing his clueless, happy expression was still there I tried to explain. "Umm, basically what it means is that the computer here has 'logged' or recorded the fact I'm using it. Only people allowed to use it should be able to log in and that Nurse Joy did it for us because we weren't allowed and she's a really good person, so be grateful, ok?" Raven nodded in understanding before flashing a happy smile.

"Ok! It was really nice of her to help us like that though. Thanks for explaining it for me." I blushed slightly before fixing my eyes onto the screen and rushing to do what I wanted to do. Eventually, after a few minutes struggling with the mouse (those really aren't made for vines) I finally managed to get onto my e-mail account.

Typing in Silver's e-mail address, I then stopped to think before I began typing again. Raven waited patiently as I jotted in the message. I then paused again as I realised, in all my plotting and planning, I had forgotten one important detail.

I grabbed Raven with my vines, my eyes wide. "What should I call myself? I forgot what to do about my name!" Raven blinked at me confused before placing a claw on my forehead.

"Miss Chi..? Are you alright..?" I grimaced and sighed. _Of course he wouldn't get it straight away..._

"Look, I want to send Silver a message but I don't want him to know I was the one that sent it, OK? So I need to use a fake name, an alias, so he can reply to me while still not knowing it's me!" Raven's eyes were wide by the time I finished my panicked rant. After a few more seconds of me freaking out, Raven finally beamed. I glared at him impatiently.

"You thought of something?"

Raven nodded. "How about a colour name? Maybe... green?" I paused, considering the idea.

"Why green? There are plenty of other colours out there to choose from." Raven's face flushed crimson as Scarlet's feathers and he flicked his tail in front nose.

"Well... Green's a nice colour and your leaf and skin are green so..." Raven paused more thoughtfully as he looked me over. "If you don't like green, then how about blue? Your eyes are a really pretty light blue. They sort of remind me of the sky, when it's cloudy and about to rain."

I blushed but nodded. Blue was my favourite colour and I was called Skye because of them once so...

"I like Blue as a name. Thanks Raven, that really helped me out~" As the Totodile hid his snout behind his paws modestly; I grinned and typed out my message. Once that was done I glanced to the clock on the computer to see it was almost 6. I smirked, happy that I hadn't taken too long, then switched the computer off and hopped down from my chair.

Raven followed suit, and seeing that I was still in a really good mood, I made a dumb suggestion.

"Hey... Raven, do you want me to try and teach you a little bit of writing when we get back to Silver's room?" Raven nodded ecstatically before jumping up and giving me a hug.

"Of course I do! Thank you, I swear I'll be the best student you've ever had!" I shrugged and grinned, pretty sure that it would be the case as I'd never tried to teach anyone how to write before.

It was dumb, and I was definitely losing the one last chance of sleep I could've had that whole morning, but right then and there I was too happy to give a damn.

...

Two and a half hours later, I was seriously giving a damn.

I got no sleep. None at all. No, instead I had taught a Totodile his ABC's up until Silver had woken up, returned Raven to his pokeball and glared at me for making too much noise too early in the morning; which in turn, reminded me that I'd had no sleep and that despite the fact neither Raven or Silver seemed to notice it, I was very, very tired.

Oh, and Silver was still kind of mad at me. I understood why and all but it was disheartening to see him glare at me every time I made a noise... then again, maybe he was just annoyed from being woken up? He did strike me a little as being a grouchy-riser, seeing how he was glaring at everyone, except the nurse who'd given us breakfast...and even then he'd still grumbled a little under his breath.

Finally, after Silver had finished his meal, we thanked the nearest Nurse Joy before stepping out of the centre and into the morning sunlight.

I purred as my leaf began to fuel me with energy then smiled at how ironic this was for me. When I'd been human, I'd hated hot, sunny days with a passion as I always seemed to get sunburnt in only a few short minutes. But now, as a plant sunlight was one of the nicest things around and days like today were perfect. The sunlight was just so soothing; all my exhaustion from earlier was disappearing as I'd never gotten tired at all.

Next to me, Silver winced before shielding his eyes with a gloved hand.

"...I hate sunny mornings... They're only good for joggers and plants..." I giggled at that and Silver looked down at me with a wry smile. "That being said, I guess it's perfect weather for you." I nodded and gave a 'Chi!' of reply before glancing over at the huge tower to the north of us. As if reading my thoughts Silver also glanced at the tower before narrowing his eyes at it.

"Sprout tower. Built in the last decade of the Edo period for the sole purpose of training. If we manage to get to the top today, I'll challenge this city's Gym before we leave town tomorrow; if not then we just move on. We've probably stayed here too long as it is." I blinked up at him, finding it a little strange that any trainer would put a travel schedule over a Gym badge.

I then shrugged when it occurred to me that Silver might not be interested in going to the Pokémon league this year. After all, not all trainers are out there just for fame and money. Who knew, maybe Silver was training to be a police officer?

I chuckled a little as Silver and I began walking towards our destination. _'Somehow I doubt Silver is trying to be a cop. Doesn't really seem the type; he'd probably manage being a detective though, with those piercing eyes of his.'_ I noticed his expression and frowned. _'Why so grim-looking? All we're doing is going to train. It's not like it's a life or death thing, so why is he getting all tense?' _I paused, about to wave a bit of Sweet Scent at him to calm down, when a voice called out to us from behind.

"Hey Silver, it's been a while. I was wondering when I'd run into you again." I spun around, my eyes wide as I recognised the speaker.

"Gold?" I stared up at my cousin (should it be ex-cousin?) and felt a grin on my face.

It was definitely him. Black shorts, a gold and black hat and jacket, golden eyes tinged brown and those big two stupid bangs of black hair. Gold's look hadn't changed a bit. Immediately, I dashed over, yelling "GOLD!" at the top of my lungs.

Of course all he and Silver would have heard was "CHIKORI!" but I was too excited, relieved and happy to care.

Despite his surprise at being charged at by a crazy Chikorita, Gold swiftly caught me when I leapt up to try and give him a hug. Placing a hand just around the base of my head-leaf, probably to try and calm me down (which failed miserably, as I was still thrashing around trying to hug him like a maniac), Gold chuckled and carefully placed me back onto the ground.

"Whoa! Hello there. You're a friendly little Pokémon, aren't you? Mind if I have a little chat with your trainer..?" Gold's tone was cheerful, but the lack of familiarity in his voice made me froze me, realisation pounding its way through my thick skull.

'_He doesn't recognise me. The me he knew was Skye Royall, a tall girl with brown-blonde hair, grey-blue eyes and an obsessive love for Pokémon and otaku culture; not a foot tall Chikorita called Chi. I can't even talk to him because I'm a Pokémon and I don't speak human, and the human me is dead! Even if he could understand me, who would ever believe that I had just come back to life like that? If someone told me they were the reincarnation of my dead loved one, I'd probably hate them for it!_ _**He might hate me if I told him!**__'_

My mouth grew dry as I looked up at him, noticing details I had overlooked before, such as the new frown lines on his forehead and how guarded his smile looked. And his golden eyes which I had thought were focused on me were glaring at Silver with such intensity I felt myself pale.

'_His eyes... The only time Gold ever looks like that is when he's angry-No, when he's so angry he's about to lose it! Why would he be looking at Silver like that? Silver's no saint but Gold __**never**__ loses his temper like this for no reason...'_ Involuntarily I took a step back. Suddenly I felt the tension that I hadn't been able to sense before, and looked back to Silver, who gestured for me to come back without taking his own fierce glare off of Gold.

I hesitated for a split second, and Silver shot me an enraged look before ordering me with in such an icy tone that I couldn't help shivering.

"Chi. _**Here.**_** Now.**"

Instantly I ran to his side before sitting at his feet, eyes wide with shock. At any other time, I would have been ecstatic that he had used my nickname, but right now my head was spinning so much I couldn't even think straight. About the only thoughts that made any sense seemed to consist of mostly '_Why is Gold angry with Silver?'_,_ 'I don't get it..._' and _'I don't want anyone to get hurt'_.

Basically, I was running on auto-pilot.

Behind me, I dimly registered Gold letting out an almost-sarcastic chuckle.

"Chi huh? That's a cute name. But considering that you probably got her illegally, I guess you aren't the one who named her. So... Tell me, how's life as a thief treating you these days? Steal any more Totodiles? Come on Silver, you can tell me." Silver remained mostly impassive at these comments, though his face flushed a little red and he was now shaking a little. I was gasping, my mind boggling at this information.

'_Silver, a Pokémon thief?'_ It seemed unbelievable but it made sense when I tried to think about it rationally. All of Silver's Pokémon, including myself were rare and powerful ones that grew quickly. He owned a minisizer but hadn't bothered to stock up on enough medicine for more than one Pokémon, and he wanted to leave town by tomorrow regardless of whether or not he won a badge from the city's gym. Individually, these things didn't mean anything but adding them all together... Not to mention it explained Gold's anger towards him; but...

'_No! Silver is a good person and I'm not going to doubt him! This is all a big misunderstanding!'_ My loyal Pokémon-mentality screamed at my logical self for even thinking of the possibility. My logical self then countered with a severe wave of doubt, crushing my poor innocent Pokémon loyalty into the ground. _'Yes, he might have been nice but Gold said he's a thief and he doesn't lie or exaggerate about stuff like this. You don't doubt Gold do you?'_

'_No...but..!'_

'_We need to think! Find out how to know for sure, then act on it before things get out of hand.'_

Before my Pokémon-mentality could argue back, I cut off that wave of thought, (as well as thoughts of why I had suddenly developed multiple personalities) brought my mind back to the present and tried to focus on what I could do.

Judging by the way Gold and Silver were staring each other down I didn't have much time before either a battle or a fist fight broke out; I had to somehow find out a way to confirm what Gold had said but how..?

Time for thinking then seemed to run out as both boys quickly reached for their respective pokeballs. Panicking, I did the only thing I could think off with such short notice.

I restrained Silver using my vine whips around his arms and waist.

"What the..? Chi, what are you doing?" Silver shot me a look with so much outrage and betrayal, I felt myself almost wilt on the spot. Luckily I managed to steel myself just enough to keep my grip on him as my mind raced for an idea.

"_Ohcrapohcrapohcrap... I am so going to die this time! But, I couldn't think of anything else and-What the hell am I thinking about? I need to think of some way to work this out before Silver kills me himself this time! I need help though; something to help me think... I wonder if Raven would help me-Wait, that's it!_" Quickly throwing out a third vine and carefully moving it around the two I had used as ropes, (controlling two vines at a time is fine but controlling a third is _**really**_ tiring, and _**really**_ difficult even when you _**aren't**_ holding someone thrashing around madly and giving you looks of hurt you can't bear) I pulled Raven's pokeball out of Silver's hand before clicking it open.

There was a flash of light and Raven appeared, blinking his eyes continuously to adjust to the change in lighting. However, before I could relax, Gold began walking up to us, a confident smirk on his face.

"What's this, an argument? Thanks, little Chikorita. Last time I came this close to catching him, your trainer just attacked and ran like a dog." Gold's expression suddenly turned harsh. "Silver, I don't really care about getting you arrested, but if you willingly hand over the Totodile's pokeball and tell me everything you remember about July 21 this year, I'll give you a three-day start before I tell Officer Jenny where I found you."

Silver's answer to Gold's offer was a stubborn shake of the head. Gold's eyes flashed with suppressed anger, and before thinking it through properly I quickly swung a razor leaf at his feet before I growled in my lowest possible tone. _"There's no way I'm letting you come closer when you're this angry. Back off, Gold."_

Gold froze to the spot and both Silver and I visibly relaxed. Just as I began wondering why Silver was relieved, Raven, whose eyes had finally adjusted, charged over to us a horrified look on his face.

"What are you doing Miss Chi? Let him go right now!" Before I had time to react, Raven had rushed over to Silver's feet and was trying to pull my vines off of him; realising I wasn't going to budge, he then seemed to panic for a moment before sinking his teeth into them.

I immediately stifled my shriek by biting my lip and waited for the sharp pain in my vines to recede. There was a brief wait before the pain dulled down ever-so-slightly; enough for me to speak anyway, but the second it did so I gave Raven a fierce look. Well... it would have been fierce if I wasn't reduced to tear-inducing, pure, tooth-based agony.

"I'm not letting go until-Agh! Stuff Proper Speech! Raven! Did Silver steal you? And-_**can you let go of my vine now please because I am in extreme pain right now and it really really hurts and I might accidently hurt Silver if my vines tense up the wrong waY!**_" I yelped the last part out as Raven released his toothy grip on my plant limbs.

Giving me only a short glance, he turned and paled at the sight of Gold, before his expression fused into a strange mix of fear and determination.

"Oh no... They sent someone after us, didn't they..? I don't want to go back to Elm's lab... Silver is the only trainer I need! I don't care if it was considered stealing; I'm not going back to a place where no one wants me for being me! I'm not going to be abandoned again, you hear!" Raven wailed, his desperation to be heard ignored, as Gold began slowly reaches a pokeball. As I watched them tensely, my eyes widened as something in Raven's statement started to sound familiar.

_Wait. Elm's lab... a Totodile with a friendly nature...bad history with trainers...Elm asking me if I wanted a second Pokémon when I started my journey... Of course! It all makes sense now. I can't believe I didn't remember sooner. I'm such an idiot._

Slowly so as not to let Silver realise it right away, I started unwinding my vines, trying to ignore the now familiar waves of guilt rushing over me. I then glanced up at the red head's face. He had stopped struggling from my grip and was watching Raven with a resigned look on his face, almost as if he knew what was going to happen and he could do nothing to stop it.

Realising I was watching him, Silver glared again, but unlike last time, I knew what I was going to do.

My Chikorita side was right. This _was_ a misunderstanding.

"Thanks Raven. You just helped me figure things out. Ok Silver, time to... RUN FOR IT!" I suddenly unwound my vines all at once before pushing Silver towards the tower. As Silver stumbled forward, shocked and probably more than a little stiff from my tight grip, there was the distinctive flash from a pokeball from where Gold was.

Immediately I swung another razor leaf, only for it to be blown back into my face by a gust of wind. I yelped and jumped back, just managing to spot a flash of red and blue with my blurred eyesight before Raven blasted the 'what-ever-it-was' out of the air with a water gun. I swung out a plume of Sleeping powder and the two of us turned and ran after our trainer; not taking a single look back.

...

As it had turned out, getting away from my cousin was just as difficult as trying to catch him after he'd played a prank; and we ended up having to run, back-track and all the rest of it, through the centre of town several times before then hiding and waiting for him to dash past us, just to throw him off.

Making sure that we weren't seen, Silver carefully checked each area we went through before Raven and I followed, and slowly but surely, we made our way to Sprout tower; eventually collapsing within a small cluster of trees near it.

Still panting, I glanced over to Silver leaning tiredly against a tree and Raven slumped onto the ground next to him, and smiled before letting out a sigh.  
Stupid and impulsive or not, it looked like I'd chosen the red-haired boy's side for now, but even I could tell this was going to bring up problems for me later.

Gold was hunting down Silver, someone he believed was a Pokémon thief. Silver _actually was_ a thief, but hadn't stolen Raven for money... Well ok, I still wasn't exactly sure of that, but I certainly didn't regret helping a Pokémon stay with the person he considered his real trainer.  
The major problem for me was that, regardless of how long we ran or how much we outwitted him, Gold was going to catch us, and I didn't want another fight like the last one to break out.

To understand just why I was so sure Gold would catch us, I will have to insert a random bit of back story here.  
Once, about three or four years ago, when Gold and I were only about 13 and visiting my Dad at the library in Cherrygrove City; a guy managed to hold the pokemart across the street hostage with a gun, screaming about wanting all the money all the money in town or he'd shoot everyone in the store.

To this day, no one knows how that maniac got a gun.

Not only are guns of any type other than tranquilizers illegal, but not even the black market will supply them without being payed hundreds, if not thousands first. The reason? Pokémon _**hate**_ guns. If one single Pokémon in an area so much as smells one, it'll send the rest berserk in a matter of moments.  
That's not to say criminals don't carry them; there are still about ten gangland shootings in big cities like Goldenrod and Veilstone every few months. It's just simply that to carry a gun around in an area like NewBark Town or Cherrygrove City where there are more wild Pokémon than people is just _**begging**_ to be attacked. But back to my story.

Shortly after all his screaming about killing people, the man was soon swarmed by a huge mass of outraged wild Pokémon (naturally) which quickly made him drop his gun and run for the hills. Gold however, ignoring all the startled shouts and warnings people yelled out to him, raced after the guy with his mum's Aipom, Ataro on his shoulder. Nutmeg and I also joined in the chase, but after a full hour or so my legs gave out, and we were forced to head back.

But Gold didn't quit. In fact it was eight days later that he finally called us to say that 'he'd run the guy all the way to Ecruteak and had just finished giving his statement to the police, so he was dead tired and could we pick him up please?'.

From that point on, Gold had often been called in by our local Officer Jenny if they ever needed to tail someone in the area, and boy, was he good at it. His stubborn and reckless personality mixed with his endurance made him incredibly useful; not to mention that being a civilian, Gold was often able to get away with things that no police officer would have been allowed to think of, such as making deals with petty crooks to get info. His naturally acting ability (aka: Lying with a straight face) and cheerful nature helped a lot as well.  
...Not to mention, Gold really developed a hatred for people who did stupid things that hurt others, after Ataro was crippled a year ago from getting hit by a stupid drink-driver. Criminals who hurt Pokémon were always on the top of his 'most wanted' list.

Gold catching us wasn't in question at all. We were too obvious a group to be ignored and he was never going to stop chasing Silver now that he had decided he was an enemy. So all I could do to stop Gold from tearing Raven and Silver apart was to somehow convince him that the two had gotten attached and separating them would be cruel.

Something that wasn't going to be too easy since I couldn't talk human anymore.

"Chikorita, come here." Silver had finally recovered his breath and watched cautiously as I slowly picked myself up and trudged to where he was pointing.

Plonking myself down, I closed my eyes shut and braced myself for the outburst I _knew_ was coming. _'After all, it was my fault that Silver almost gotten caught back there. If I had been my trainer and something like this had happened, I would have been screaming at my Pokémon already. It would be totally understandable if he ran to the nearest Pokémon centre demanding me to be traded; I mean... I TIED HIM UP! With a vine whip attack! One wrong twitch of my vines and I could have broken his ribs!_ ..._But he isn't making a sound... He's not so mad he's speechless, is he?'_ I gulped before slowly opening an eyelid.

Silver glowered down at me, his eyes flashing as if they were on fire. But instead of being just being angry, something in me (probably my Chikorita side again) told me he was mostly confused. It didn't change the fact he was watching me as if he expected me to try and bite him any minute though.

Really feeling the guilt now, I flashed him a mournful look. '_He __**really**__ doesn't trust me anymore; no surprise there. I just wish... I could explain myself somehow. It makes me feel twice as guilty not being able to tell him why I did all that.'_ I grimaced as Raven also flashed me a confused look before smiling weakly. '_At least I can explain to Raven. He'll understand. ...At least, I hope he will.'_

There was complete silence as Silver continued to watch me, before the teen let out a heavy sigh and started trudging out of the bushes towards Sprout Tower. Unsure as to whether to follow him or not, I paused, until Silver turned around and gave me a blank look. "Look, if you want to go back to being wild then go already, but if you like being human owned then hurry up. That goes for you too, Raven."

Both Raven and I jumped with surprise at the comment, glanced at each other for a split second before wordlessly running over to Silver's heels and following after him as he made his way to Sprout Tower.

...

"You couldn't find any trace of him at all?"

Gold let out a groan as both Explotaro and Nutmeg shook their head respectively. Slumping onto a bench, the black-haired boy sighed with frustration before pulling out and drinking from a bottle of water he'd hidden in his jacket pocket. Seeing the murderous looks both of his Pokémon were giving him, he quickly pulled a bowl out of his bag and emptied the last of the bottle's liquid into it from before groaning again.

"So close! We were this close to catching him that time! ...Maybe it's for the best though... It's obvious that Totodile is pretty loyal to him and I know it's gonna suck pulling them apart... but! I can't afford to let him go, he's the only lead we have in this!" Gold grit his teeth before glancing down at the two Pokémon that were staring up at him strangely. "Yeah... Ok, I get it. Announcing my problems to the world isn't going to help us any, but still. It's frustrating, you know?" Explotaro nodded fiercely and Gold smiled sheepishly, patting the small fire mouse on the head.

"Sorry Explotaro; I forgot how much more tough it must be for you, seeing as that guy has your buddy with him. ...Looks like we'll just have to wait for Wolf to come back and hope she managed to spot them. Oh...Speak of the devil." Gold grinned as his Taillow (he learnt the species name when he'd rung Elm about his strange new Pokémon) swooped down from the air and onto his shoulder. Before he could even ask if she had seen their target, Wolf in the most human of gestures possible, pointed towards Sprout Tower looming nearby with a wing tip and rolled her eyes at him as if to say '_Duh!_'.

A look of disbelief passed over Gold's face as he pulled out an oran berry for the annoyed-looking bird before his brow tightened in contemplation.

"Why's he going there? Doesn't he realise how easily I can corner him in there? ...Training. He's gotta be going there for the training, probably for that Chikorita of his, considering how crazy it was acting earlier." Suddenly pausing in his speech, Gold shook his head amused at his own idiocy. "...Why do I even care anyway? All that matters is that he won't be able to escape. I decide on what to do with him when I catch him. Come on guys, let's go already!"

Wolf let out an surprised squawk as her trainer bolted, throwing her off his shoulder by accident, as both Explotaro and Nutmeg merely shrugged and dashed after him, not surprised or upset in the least. Seeing that her break was going to be a short one, the Taillow let out an irritated groan and glided after them.

"Just why I am doing this again..?"

...

Chi POV.

It was now about lunch time and a full three hours after running from Gold that finally saw us making it to the 3rd floor of Sprout Tower, collapsing yet again with exhaustion. Most of you who know anything about Sprout Tower are probably laughing at the fact we took so long to get that far or that we were so tired, but you have no idea how many people we had to battle!

Apparently today had been one of the famous Pokémon Academy's annual trips to the tower and as such, the place was packed.

Not only with students and parents all itching to battle, but also curious on-lookers and twice the normal amount of monks, and ALL of them had Pokémon! What's more, it seemed a good third of the children we had totalled yesterday were from the Academy, and the very instant word got around that the 'super-tough scary red-headed guy' was taking on the tower, _**everyone there**_ wanted a battle. And we couldn't refuse. After all, training is what Sprout Tower is for.

True, most of the battles were ridiculously easy, probably due to how overleveled we were, but it was the sheer number of them that was starting to really hurt. None of us were spared; Scarlet, Raven and myself had all been used equal amounts of times, usually in rotation (though Scarlet was always sent back to her pokeball to rest, unlike Raven and me) and even Silver who, being the trainer didn't have to do anything other than stand and command us, was starting to look like death warmed over.

And then, after all the little kids and their parents had run off to go train against someone weaker, the _**good**_ trainers started coming. Surprisingly Chip and Kip were in this group, though this time with Silver guiding me I did much better that last time (ie, no over-kill move or Stun Spore needed) and with our no-loss tally growing through the roof, we were even challenged by Earl, the headmaster of the Academy himself. Luckily, Earl had noticed the condition all of us were in and given us some healing items to make the fight 'fair' but seriously; potions only heal wounds, people! In our case, food would have been preferred.  
...We still won that round though, with Scarlet, Raven and I all working tag-team to beat that snobbish Lickylicky of Earl's into the dirt.

As a reward for beating everyone on the floor we were presented with a special 'Earl's Academy Badge of Extra-Ordinary Effort' which supposedly like a degree saying we'd surpassed the Academy completely, but I don't think any of us cared; we just wanted to get through this bloody tower of hell and collapse already. Or at least, I know I did.

Too stubborn to see reason though, Silver returned Scarlet (who for the first time since I'd met her was looking tired), forced us to march through the 2nd floor which was (thankfully) deserted, and now we were wordlessly eating the lunch Silver had made for us; which looked and tasted suspiciously like sandwiches with instant chicken-noodles thrown in the middle. I still enjoyed it though.

Finally, after scoffing my sandwich down as if my life depended on it, and I was starting to get the feeling it might, I finally felt I had enough energy to bring up a conversation.

"Hey Raven... You're that funny little Totodile that kept winding back up at the lab, weren't you?" Raven froze half-way his through his meal before looking at me with wide-eyes. Knowing I had his attention, I continued. "I finally recognise you... You were the one who kept getting sent back to the lab by all the trainers who started with you; the first time because that girl trainer you had quit training and couldn't handle you as a pet, the second time you came back on your own after that horrible brat broke your ribs and abandoned you just because you were too smart to take an electric attack on his order..."

Raven's face began to pale as I frantically rambled on, realising I'd said too much to take any of it back.

"You were always doing hilarious, crazy things like drinking the professor's chemical mixtures and egging on that pyro-maniac Cynderquil to set things on fire. But you were a good Pokémon and Elm was really fond of you. ...It's just that by then that stupid rumour about you being 'untrainable and savage' got around and people refused to take you as their starter. ...Is that why you went with Silver even though he stole you?"

Raven, now looking at me as if he'd seen a ghost, slowly gulped down the last of his food before taking a deep breath and smiling sheepishly. "Yeah, that was me. Silver stole me from the lab and I was scared at first because I know thieves are bad and stuff," Raven's eyes began to develop the same sparkle they had when I was first captured. "But then Silver said he'd found out about me by hacking into pewter and finding records on me there. Which would have been really tough because I know that pewter is a really tough rock, even tougher than slate." I chuckled a little when I realised Raven thought Silver had meant a rock rather than a computer, then wisely shut up as he continued.

"And then he said the most amazing thing ever! He said that I was the only Pokémon he'd ever take from the lab. Me! A useless, disobedient Totodile who's so dumb he bites the cords with electricity in them! He's the only person who ever liked me for being me! He said he wanted me because I was independent and unique! Do you know what it's like having something like that happen to you for the very first time?"

"Ummm...no. Not really." I answered bluntly before thinking about it, and felt my gut twist with self-loathing as Raven sagged, his bubble of hope popped instantly.

"Yeah. I should have figured that one... I'm not really like most other Pokémon... I'm sorry for being such a freak... I'll try not to do that again." Seeing the little Totodile sink to the ground with depression was too much for my new-found Chikorita conscience. Cue, yet another wave of guilt.

Gee, I really need to stop guilt-tripping all the time.

"I didn't mean it like _**that**_!" Raven jumped back startled as I shrieked unintentionally high; which attracted Silver's attention for a second before he realised it was just me being weird again, and went back to trying to recover his stamina. Embarrassed, I flushed brightly before flicking my headleaf in front of my face and shooting Raven an apologetic look.

"I wasn't saying you were weird for feeling that way or anything, I just meant I've never been in that situation. Besides, if anyone's not like a Pokémon, it's me! I mean, most of my memories are human ones so I'm probably not like a proper Pokémon at all..." I trailed off as I realised I had just given away the whole 'I was human once' thing.  
It wasn't really like I was trying to hide it or anything, it just... didn't feel like the sort of thing to say to people unless you wanted them to think you were crazy.

'_But then why is my heart pounding in terror? Is not revealing one's nature an instinctive thing when you're a reborn? It isn't like there's any real reason I'm freaking out, right?'_

"Ummm... Miss Chi what are you talking about? I'm kind of confused by what you meant. Could you please explain?" Breaking though my temporary panic to see the look of complete bewilderment on Raven's face, I knew I had spent too long spacing out to cover up my mistake.

Forcing back any awkward feelings I had about it, I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to confide in someone; even if I did have to simplify things a little for him to understand me.

"Well... It's sorta... like I have someone else's memories floating around in my head; like there's another me out there. And this me is human... and thanks to that me's memories I know how to do all sorts of stuff most other Pokémon don't, like how to work computers or how to read and write human words and..." I sighed as I saw Raven's jaw drop. "...and you probably think I'm crazy now. I figured as much... Sorry I ever brought it up."

Jolted out of his awe by my apparent lack of faith in him, Raven gave me a confused look before shaking his head.

"No. Why would I doubt you? Everything you said makes sense and besides it explains a lot. It's just kind of incredible is all. ...Is that how you know about me?"

I nodded and smiled, a warm fuzzy feeling spreading through me when I realised Raven honestly _did_ believe me. "Yeah. It's also how I know Gold, the guy who was trying to catch us earlier..." Raven froze and I bit my lip, continuing a bit more cautiously. "The reason I tied up Silver earlier is because I know Gold's a really good person and he often chases after crooks. Elm probably told him that you were stolen so now he's trying to rescue you from Silver, who he thinks is a bad guy. It confusing for me to have someone I care about hunting after my new trainer, and I don't see how I can stop them from fighting with each other! It's frustrating you know?"

Raven opened his mouth to reply, when Silver interrupted, his voice sounding only a little less exhausted than it had we'd sat down. "Come on, we've relaxed long enough. Let's finish this."

I was really tempted to flash Silver a glare for his rotten timing, but sighed and quietly walked after him, feeling slightly angry at myself for being unreasonable. '_After all, it isn't Silver's fault that he can't understand what us Pokémon are talking about, and at least he didn't try returning us while we were talking either. I've always hated people doing that, even back when I was human.'_

Raven, who had been caught off guard by the sudden interruption, stood frozen for a moment before flailing around pointlessly then dashing after us. I laughed at his frantic expression; it wasn't like we were more than a few metres away. He was already nervous we'd leave him behind? In a way it was kind of cute.

...And it was that moment I realised Raven could have been my starter Pokémon.

Now, this thought may not seem all that incredible to anyone else, but to me the implications were mind-blowing.  
I could have _owned_ the Pokémon that was rapidly turning into my best friend. No... not could have, would have. Despite the fact I loved Chikorita to bits, one look on 'choose your starter day' and I would have instantly fallen for the Totodile with the sad, lonely eyes. But that wasn't really the thing that over-whelmed me.

The real question that boggled my mind is whether or not Raven would have been happier that way. _What if I was an awful trainer? I mean, the only Pokémon I'd ever really raised was Nutmeg, my family's Glameow, and the major reason we really got along was because I tended to let her do whatever she wanted and because we both liked showing off our skill in battles. Just talking to him now I could tell Raven was a lot more sensitive than Nutmeg ever was; how on earth would he have been able to put up with me as human with all my bluntness?_  
But even as I thought over those concerns, I was felt something hot and nasty boiling away in my gut.

I was jealous. Completely and utterly jealous of Silver.

'_Why does Silver get to run around with a Sneasel and Raven as his first Pokémon and not me?' _Something in me wailed as I fought to suppress it,_ 'It isn't fair! Scratch that; it isn't fair I died, full stop. Why couldn't he have been the one to-'_ I immediately cut that trail of thought from my mind just as Raven finally caught up with us, and I tried to hide my shuddering. _'That was weird... It's so unlike me to get that jealous. And I don't dislike being a Pokémon or anything, so why am I getting all worked up and angry? Is this a Chikorita-hormone thing? I mean, I do remember Prof. Elm saying something about emotional problems in Grass Pokémon caused by chemical imbalances, but I didn't think it would affect my thinking all that much. Ok, note to self: No wishing for people to die out of spite. It's not a good thing to think about, so... No thinking about it! . . . Not thinking about it...Not thinking about it...Really not thinking about it...' _

"Miss Chi? What are you chanting to yourself? Does this have anything to do with last night?" I jumped before giving Raven a relieved grin. '_Thank god, a distraction!'_

"No... I was just thinking about something stupid and trying to distract myself from it. Why do you ask-Oh..." My question was answered as the corridor opened up into a large empty room with only an old monk in it; meditating quietly in between two Bellsprout statues and looking for all the world like the elder of the Tower.  
The fact he was dressed in slightly more flashy clothes than the rest of the monks and had a beard trailing all the way down to the ground only supported this image in my mind.

Spotting us, the monk stood and bowed his head slightly before letting his Bellsprout out of it's pokeball. He then looked at Silver and smiled.

"So good of you to come here, young trainer! Sprout Tower is a place of training build almost one hundred years ago for people and pokémon to test their bonds and help them build a bright future together. My name is Li and I am the elder of this tower. Please allow me to check the ties between you and your Pokémon. This will be your final test at the tower."

Looking significantly cheered up by the fact his opponent wasn't one of the endless mob from downstairs and hopefully the last person we'd have to battle today, Silver actually gave one of his rare smiles and gestured for me to take to the field.

I bounded over, only too happy to battle and get this over and done with. Before I could make it to the field however, Raven grabbed my headleaf and pulled slightly. I slowed to a halt and shot him a murderous look. "Raven, what are doing? That hurts." Raven blinked, as if he hadn't realised what he'd done but quickly let go of my leaf, looking at his claws as they'd moved by themselves.  
I frowned, still a little angry, but completely forgot about it as my opponent, Elder Li's Bellsprout leered, his strange hissy voice making me pale. "It's been a long time ssince anyone'ss been ssstupid enough to fight with a Chikorita here... Ssssay Cutey, how about a date if I win? I know a really good placcce where we could be alone together~"

I glared at him, more than a little weirded-out that one of the honoured Bellsprouts of Sprout Tower could be such a lecher. Behind me, I heard Raven gasp in outrage, but before I could say anything about it the match began.

"Bell-sen, use acid." The Elder at least was true to his principals as the Bellsprout spat out gunks of purple liquid. Not needing Silver's orders to dodge such a predictable attack, I leapt to the side, just avoiding the poisonous splatter then paused as Silver's voice rang out.

"Use Sweet scent followed by Tackle. But be prepared to close your eyes and use Synthesis as soon as I tell you to drop." I blinked, a little confused by the strange commands but released the Sweet scent anyway; I was still on shaky ground with Silver right now and I wasn't going to risk upsetting him any further.

Before I could run and tackle him however, Li's Bellsprout snickered just as his Vine Whip smashed me right across the eyes. Temporally blinded, the loss of even blurry sight sent me into a complete panic and I started running around in circles slinging Razor leaves in every direction I could. I was so freaked I even ignored shouts and yelps as people almost got hit by my attacks.  
I have no idea how long I stayed like that as I was kinda not thinking straight at the time; but next thing I knew I suddenly heard Silver's voice over all the chaos.

"Chi quit it! Stop wasting your energy like an idiot and listen to me already you crazy Pokémon!" I froze on the spot as Silver's angry shouting snapped me out of my panicked state. There were sighs of relief from all around me but most of these were blocked from my hearing as I heard the sound of another Pokémon being released from its pokeball.

I bit my lip to stop myself from panicking again.

"Shouldn't you return your Pokémon? It looks rather tired." Elder Li's voice sounded concerned and I could hear his second Pokémon, a female Bellsprout I think, murmuring something along the same lines. I wondered briefly for a moment what had happened to the first Bellsprout then sagged with relief. '_Who cares what happened to him? At least I'm not fending off that pervert blind. Not that it really matters as Silver's probably going to order me back soon-' _

"I'm not returning her." Even blinded I could picture the glare Silver was giving the Elder as he replied. "She's only a tired. Any Pokémon of mine could win this battle with you by itself. Understood?"

I gulped as I sensed the determination in Silver's voice as well as the thinly-veiled challenge to me. Reluctantly, I _Chi_-ed in agreement and that seemed to be the cue for the second round.

"Use Acid, Bell-ko." I smiled slightly as the Elder ordered the same attack as he had before... Until I realised I couldn't see it.

Cue second round of panicked running.

"Again? What's the matter-Reflect now!" Silver's confused murmuring instantly changed into an order as the acid attack began to rain down on me. Luckily I was still thinking well enough to listen and raise up a barrier.

...Only to find I'd put it up in the wrong direction.

I let out a loud shriek of pain as spots of the poisonous liquid started raining down on my unprotected back; instinctively I dashed forward to try to escape, only to slam my head hard against the Reflect I had just put up.

For a moment my head spun then, much to my surprise, I suddenly felt my energy coming back to me in a surge. Feeling more than a little disorientated though, I staggered a little and forced my eyes open slowly. Instantly the pain made me shut them again but at least I had managed to get a mostly blurred view of my surroundings. Then I heard the words I _**really**_ didn't want hear.

"Bell-ko another Acid to finish it off. We shouldn't prolong it's suffering any more than we have to."

Well, that was enough to set me right off again. Lunging in direction I thought I'd managed to make the Bellsprout out, I was rewarded when I heard the other Pokémon yelp as she scuttled away. Unable to do anything else at this point, I desperately tried running after the much-faster Bellsprout, hoping like hell Silver would finally figure out why the hell I couldn't see and do something about it.

"Chi, use Magical Leaf continuously until you can't anymore." I felt my spirits soar as Silver ordered my attack. _'Yes! That's it! Magical Leaf will hit regardless of whether or not I can see! Silver, you're awesome!'_ I briefly considered running over to give Silver a teary hug but remembered just in time I couldn't tell where he was anyway.

Of course, it was just then the Bellsprout decided to get smart and spat a clump of Acid-filled-agony straight into my face.

I shrieked again, this time a lot more desperately as acid started burning my already blistering eyes, then choked back a sob as I dropped onto my front knees. I knew that technically, I was still actually considered ok for battle but I really didn't feel it. This match was really starting to kill _any_ desire I had for ever battling again.

After a moment though, I slowly pulled myself back up and grit my teeth, before snarling vaguely in the Bellsprout's direction. "For Mew's sake, can't you give me a break? I've had enough! One more acid attack from you and I swear, someone today is gonna die! Horribly! And I'll take great pleasure in it!" With that said I tossed the most powerful Magical leaf attack I could manage forward and grinned as I heard the wonderful shuddering 'thwump' of a Bellsprout being slammed into a wooden wall. ...Honestly, I really hadn't expected my attack to hit the poor Bellsprout quite that hard, but considering how long she'd had free reign over the battle, I felt I'd done rather well.

I then pondered just how over levelled I was.

Evidently Silver thought I'd done a good job as well, as I heard the flash of a pokeball from behind me, and heard Scarlet's usual hiss in my direction.

"Good job Chi. Follow my voice until you walk into Raven; you've done enough." I grinned as Silver's voice softened slightly, and nodded, carefully trotting in his direction until I felt Raven press a claw against my forehead.

"Wow... you really got beat up back there Miss Chi. Are you ok? You aren't feeling sick or anything are you? No poisoning right?" I grinned at Raven's concern before wincing slightly, the adrenalin that was holding back the pain finally wearing off.

"Yeah, I'm ok... Just a little blinded at the moment. ...Is there a potion around here I could use? On the area around my eyes? I really don't mind the pain so much... but it's really scary not being able to see." Raven must have heard the slight whimper in my voice, because he gasped rather loudly and dashed off somewhere, only to rush right back, my headleaf weakly sensing that he was holding something cold in his claws.*

"Just hold still Miss Chi, I'll get this done. Just hold still, ok?" There was a moment or two of squeaking plastic before a loud 'POP' sound signalled that Raven had managed to pull the potion's lid off. There was then a silent pause and distantly I registered Scarlet was hissing at something that was flapping around and screaming "DON'T EAT ME!" a lot, but decided that the issue of the potion was more important.

"Raven..."I sighed as the crocodile Pokémon in front of me 'hmmm'ed rather loudly. "...You squash the funny looking white bit down to make it spray. ...But make sure the hole on the side of it is pointing where you want to spray it or else you might end up spraying it on yourself."

Immediately there was a shuffling sound and potion sprayed onto my face. Waiting a moment for the potion to work its magic, I bit my lip nervously, then slowly opened my eyes to make out the blurry (but pain-free) image of the Totodile's curious face. Celebrating this small miracle, I couldn't help but grin my head off.

"Oh thank god! I can see again! I never ever want to get hit on the eyes again. Ever. Thanks Raven. I really don't think I would have been able to handle that much longer." My headleaf shook slightly as I looked at the blurred area around me with a greater appreciation than I ever would at any other time in my life. Well... At least until my vision cleared and I saw the blood and acid stains I'd managed to leave all over the wooden floor. That just left me feeling a little grossed out.

"You're more than welcome Miss Chi!" Raven's beaming face quickly changed to a more concerned expression as he glanced at the rest of me. "Are you really sure you're alright though..? You look kind of... bruised. Aren't you even tired?" I paused and nodded a little, but before I could a word in edge-wise, there was tremendous screech from the battle field and I turned only just in time to see Scarlet slam a frigidly cold Ice Punch straight into the beak of Elder Li's last Pokémon, a terrified looking Hoothoot.  
It didn't take a genius to know who won that round, though I did wince in sympathy for the Hoothoot as it crumpled to the ground and was returned to it's pokeball.

More than aware she'd won the whole battle, Scarlet smirked in triumph for a moment before her bright crimson eyes fixed on me... and widened almost comically large. Half expecting her to laugh at how beat up I was, I was completely dumbfounded when she shot over and placed a claw on my forehead, her face pale with worry and barely contained rage.

"**What **happened here! Why are you in such bad condition? **Talk!** Who had the nerve to hurt one of Silver's Pokémon? I swear to Articuno I'll make them regret this!" Seeing Scarlet's face flicker between murderous intent and concern at this close a range was too much for me and I laughed weakly, too overwhelmed by the surreal-ness to really register anything other than the fact Scarlet was practically acting like an outraged mother.

"A Bellsprout. Two actually. But... I beat them already so... it's ok right? I'm not really that messed up though, am I? You looking at me as if you actually care is starting to really make me worried. It's creepy." I was rewarded for this comment with a glare and weak Icy Wind to the face, but as Scarlet wasn't trying to slash my face off I knew I'd gotten off lightly. Before I could question her sudden swap in personality though, Elder Li's voice grabbed my attention.

"You showed us what you've got and it's indeed good... Take this Technical Machine Flash. However... you should care more about your Pokémon. The way you treat your Pokémon is too harsh. Remember young man, Pokémon are not tools of war. Forcing them to battle when they are injured will only hurt you in the end and harsh words do naught but break the spirit." The Elder's face was sad as he looked down on Silver and the rest of us with what could only be referred to as pity.

Silver turned his head away, seemingly ignoring his words. But I felt myself shake with indignation. Galloping over and taking a defensive stance in front of my slandered trainer, I let out a defensive growl.

"How dare you say that! Silver's a great trainer!" I yelled at the Elder, ignoring the fact he couldn't understand me. "Sure, he made a few errors in judgement and he insulted me earlier but was those were mistakes or things he said to try to snap out of my confusion! If I thought Silver was a bad trainer I would have left already, so you don't need to be all mean about it!" I yelped the last sentence extra loudly to get my point across before running back and hiding behind Silver's legs, my eyes all watery as I gave the Elder a hurt look.

'_Honestly, it wasn't fair of him to say that to us! Silver didn't realise I couldn't see. It wasn't his fault or mine! What was he said was just rude; I shouldn't feel at all guilty for setting him straight!'_ I felt my indignant anger begin to trickle away as the monk looked down at me in surprise._ '...I do anyway, though... Maybe I shouldn't have yelled at him... It doesn't seem like he meant to upset us... Maybe I'm over reacting again...'_ Suddenly feeling anxious, I glanced up at Silver to see him looking down at me with another of his weird half-annoyed half-happy expressions. Before I had time to work out whether or not that expression was a good thing, Elder Li's light-hearted chuckle filled the room.

"It seems I was a little hasty in my judgement; it's not too often I see a Pokémon willing to defend its trainer's honour. Chikorita, know I have been properly chastised and I shall strive not the same mistake again." I grinned and wagged my stump of a tail as Silver let out a slight cough. Glancing up back at him again, I paused, fascinated by the red blush now spreading all over his face.

'_Wait... Is he embarrassed? Maybe he's not used to being apologised to... But he looks so cute~ His face matches his hair!'_ I giggled, then ducked as Scarlet's claws slashed over my headleaf.

Thank Arceus she was predictable.

"What _**are**_ you laughing at, Chikorita? Speak up before I have to cut you into ribbons-" Scarlet's annoyed tone was cut off as Raven snuck up behind her and cupped his claws over her mouth. Seeing Scarlet almost livid with rage but unable to attack me, I full out laughed, this strange turn of events too funny for me to keep my mouth shut.

Raven on the other hand, looked slightly frustrated as he pulled irate Sneasel back. "That's enough Scarlet. Miss Chi is a genius and she's bound to see the world differently than we do. Beside's if you keep attacking her like this, Silver might get angry with you." Scarlet froze as though the idea of Silver being upset with her was the equivalent of the apocalypse. Raven released her and sighed as she dropped to the ground, her horrified expression still frozen on her face. I blinked, bewildered by what had just occurred in front of me.

"Hey Raven... What the heck just happened?" Raven jumped and blinked as he turned to face me, a slight touch of guilt on his face.

"What? Oh. Umm... Scarlet is pretty sensitive when it comes to Silver, so I kinda used that against her. She drops like a stone every time." Seeing my, now, evil grin, Raven shot me a serious look. "Don't even think about using it unless you really have to, Miss Chi. If Scarlet ever picks up that you're lying or that you're just trying to get your own way, she'll kill you. Scarlet doesn't like people who lie much."

I gulped and Raven breathed a sigh of relief that I understood; inwardly though, I was cackling. Finally! I had a Defence against Scarlet's psycho-ness!

"Oi!" We all looked up as Silver called out to us, a bemused expression on his face. "Finish up chatting and hurry up. If you want to you can socialise later, _**after**_ I get you all healed up."

Instantly Scarlet recovered from her emotional paralysis and dashed forward, leaping ever so gracefully onto Silver's shoulder. I felt my second stab of jealousy for the day at Scarlet being able to move so smoothly, but I was able to silently murder the green eyed monster before it made me think of wishing for people's deaths, and trotted over calmly. Raven however took a bit longer to head over as he was waving goodbye to Elder Li for the rest of us, but quickly ran over once he saw the impatient look in Silver's eyes.

As we took the path back towards the 2nd floor together, I suddenly started feeling unbelievably happy. Unable to stop myself, I started humming some random tune as happy, dumb thoughts started flooding my little head. _'Finally, we've conquered Sprout Tower! After all those tough battles and all the horrible confusion earlier, it's finally finished and we can go back to the Pokémon centre and heal up! Who knows, maybe I can try talking with Raven and Scarlet about how to stop Gold and Silver from fighting when they saw each other next. It couldn't hurt all that much, could it? ...Ok, sure, Scarlet is likely to start cutting at me again, but now I have a weapon to use against her! We could all work together and stop my cousin from being an idiot. It's almost too perfect!'_

...It was too perfect. Just as I had been thinking this Gold, who had been waiting patiently for us to return, blocked the stairs throwing a pokeball out at us. Instantly everything went chaotic.

Scarlet reacted, lunging with claws draw, but before I could even register what happened, there was a yowling sound and Scarlet was thrown backwards, landing in front of us with her claws held out defensively.

Her opponent, also thrown back by the clash, snarled before letting out a confident purr, her long beautiful tail flicking forward. "So, I see you've sharpened your claws since the last time we fought. Good, I was getting sick of all the easy wins. Then again, with your trainer being the running coward he is, I suppose this win will last no longer than any of the others. What a shame..." Scarlet tensed behind me and Raven had seemed to suddenly disappear, but I was stopped dead in my tracks when I realised who it was that was talking.

"Nutmeg! Is that you?" I didn't even need her answer. It _was _Nutmeg. The beautiful little Glameow I had played with ever since Gold's mother had bought her as a gift for my mother when I was three years old. Everything about her, her sleek black and grey mixed fur, eyes that flickered between emerald green and gold, and even her habit of looking down on other Pokémon like they were nothing was unchanged.

'_But... why is she here with Gold now? Nutmeg always disliked Gold, or at least had really liked mauling and scratching him. Had they somehow bonded and become a team after my death? What did Mom and Dad think about this? Did they even know where Nutmeg was? Gold is horrible at warning people when he does impulse things... Oh god. ...I just realised; I haven't thought about how my death would have affected my family's Pokémon... I wonder if their all ok. I hope somebody got them dinner after I got stabbed... Why am I worried about them missing one meal? For all I know they may be staving themselves from grief!'_ As I continued to send myself into another panic thinking about useless things, Nutmeg gave me a cold look before asking one of the most horrible questions I'd ever hear in my life.

"Do I know you?"

It wasn't cruelly intended and I knew Nutmeg was simply asking me a normal question, but for the second time that day my world stopped as she gave me the degrading look she reserved for battle opponents; her eyes narrowed as she calmly looked me over. "No... I've never met a female Chikorita before... How odd. Tell me, how do you know my name?"

"Wha? How do I know what..?" I verbally floundered as Nutmeg's ears flicked back with irritation.  
How could I answer that? I wanted to just say "I'm your human, silly" and run over to give her a hug, but my heart was hiding in my throat again. There was no way I'd make any sort of sense if I tried talking now... But I had to say something didn't I? If only I could find the right words...

"The Chikorita is my spy, and you will not be asking anymore questions of her, Glameow!" Scarlet snapped, jolting me back into the real world once more. Taking a few aggressive steps forward, the Sneasel let out a savage snarl and extended her claws far longer than I'd ever seen her do before. "You call my master a coward, when you don't even acknowledge your own? What does that say about yours? That he's so stupid, you'd rather just fight on your own? How pitiful."

Nutmeg's ears flicked back, Scarlet hissed again, and an instant later the two were rolling around, slashing at each other like crazy.

Too sensible to try getting involved in a cat fight, (not because I was too terrified to stop them and they were the fiercest Pokémon I knew and both prone to attacking me) I glanced over at Gold and suddenly realised that behind Nutmeg he'd already released his second Pokémon, a frustrated looking Cyndaquil who was giving Raven a look of complete disbelief as he tried to drag the bigger and **much **heavier water Pokémon back to where Gold was standing.

"Listen Toto, that guy's a complete crook! Why the heck are you being so stubborn about this? Did he brainwash you? Just let go already!" The Cyndaquil was shouting as Raven dug his claws into the floorboards and wailed so loudly I was sure Scarlet and Nutmeg should have been blocking their ears.

"NEVERNEVERNEVER! ITOLDYOU, SILVER'SMYTRAINER AND I'MNEVERLETTINGGO! SCARLET! MISS CHI! HEELPP MEEEEE!" There was a screech as Raven's claws were pulled slightly through the wood, then more confused yelling from the Cyndaquil as Raven's Aqua Tail smashed him in the face. I winced but decided not run over. By the look of it, things over there were going _**well**_, and besides any second now Silver was going to need help.

"Dammit. Chi! Get over here!" Silver called out, his voice barely audible over the chaos, and I ran over to him, grinning smugly for my accurate prediction. When I arrived there was a slight pause as a conflicted look passed over Silver's face, but almost instantly it disappeared, and the red head shot Gold a wary glare.  
"Stun spore the area and make sure it's strong enough to knock him out. I don't want this guy following us back to Pokémon centre before I can heal you Pokémon. We're getting too much attention here in Violet as it is..." As Silver bit his lip obviously worried about something else other than the current fight, I froze at the order, then as slowly and deliberately as I could, shook my head to say '_no_'. Silver, realising I wasn't attacking, gave me one of his enraged glares, but despite wanting to wilt I resisted and shook my head again, this time a bit more fiercely.

Pokémon battles were fine, and I wouldn't have minded restraining Gold with a vine whip, but there was no way I was going to use my pollen attacks on my cousin. Not when it could set off his asthma and kill him.

...Of course, there was no way of telling Silver about that, so once again I was feeling pretty helpless. Luckily at that moment, Gold noticed I was out there and sent out his last Pokémon in a flash.

"Wolf, blow that Chikorita away!"

Reacting purely on instinct, I swung out a Razor Leaf and instantly, a strong gust of wind blew it right back at me just like in my previous encounter with one of Gold's Pokémon. Surprisingly I managed to smack the leaf away with my headlead before it slammed into my face, and even managed to tack a little angry sounding 'Chi!' on the end of it, but the gust of wind seemed of drain me of my energy. My legs trembled as I forced myself to keep standing, and not exactly sure why, I turned back to Silver to give him my very best 'I told you' look.

Before I could get a good look at his expression though, I flicked my gaze back to my opponent, Wolf, to see a small blue and red feathered bird, swear her head off at Gold for 'throwing her out in the middle of a bunch of #%$ing lunatics'. Suddenly realising that her opponent 'lunatic' was watching her, the Taillow turned to glare at me, her feathers puffed up angrily as-

_**-the girl pulled herself across the dirt painfully, her arms twisted back and useless while her legs were bound. Fearfully she glanced up at the shadow lit up from the next room, and felt her terror increase so much it completely over road the pain that crippled her. Hurriedly she glanced around.  
Nothing. There was nothing she could hurt him with even if she was in a fit state to attack him; she couldn't bear to look at her hands, after what he'd done to them.  
There was a rattle of a door handle, and the girl knew she was running out of time. Desperately she fixed her gaze on the broken glass near the man's chair, and with a tiny gulp, wriggled towards it, her skin being scratched and bruised by the sharp rocks hidden just under the dirt. Finally getting so close to the glass she could hold a piece of it with her lips, the girl began to tremble violently.**_

_**This was really it. There was no rescue; no last minute miracle that would somehow save her life. She had tried to avoid the reality but regardless, today was the day she really was going to die. But better this than him doing it. She'd end it herself and ruin his fun. The only real pity was that she wouldn't be around when the bastard finally got what he deserved. But hopefully god would let her watch as he plunged him straight back to hell!**_

_**Having made up her mind the girl grabbed the closest shards of glass with her mouth and forced herself to swallow as the door to the dark room was opened. Immediately the shards sliced open her throat and thick metallic blood began spilling into her airways and mouth.  
Enraged, her captor lifted her off the ground and yelled at her, slapping her in the face; but the girl just smiled sadistically before spitting a clump of blood at his face. He dropped her and roared, but the lack of air made everything fuzzy; sort of black stained with red that she couldn't see through. Fear filled her only and she tried to breath only for her lungs to fill with liquid and-**_

...I dashed to the end of the field and hurled up the contents of my stomach before feeling my knees buckle underneath me.

Both Gold and Silver let out startled shouts as I dropped to the ground but I couldn't hear them. I shivered horribly as the Taillow's memories swirled in my memory.

'_She... She killed herself! What on earth could have happened to her to make her do that to herself? And she was so scared and angry...'_ I felt my stomach rebel again and after throwing up a second time, I tried using Aromatherapy to calm my shattered nerves.

Never in my short reborn life had any of my memory-flashes been so strong that I had felt what the other person was feeling at the time of their death, but with that Taillow, Wolf... I shuddered and forced myself to glance back at her.  
The Taillow herself looked rather dizzy, but rather than the horror and repulsion I had had, Wolf's eyes looked haunted, the vision of my death probably making her remember her own. Instantly I started guilt-tripping about it, and being the kind of person I am, I wandered over and placed a vine over her forehead.

"Ummm... Are you ok?" The reaction was instant. Flapping her wings madly, the Taillow jumped back and fixed me with a horrified glare before blinking rapidly, looking all around in confusion.

"What the..? _What the fuck just happened__**?**_If this is some psychic's sick idea of a joke, I swear I'm gonna pull off his head and shove it right up his ass and then I'll-" As the profanity got even worse, I stared, astounded by her temper, then quickly interrupted her mid-rant.

"Wolf, was it? Ummm... Are you... by any chance a reborn?"

Instantly the Taillow froze, before looking at me with wide eyes. "How did you..?"

I chuckled, feeling slightly flustered. "I'm kind of one too. My human name was Skye Royall, but I'm called Chi now."

Wolf nodded and smiled weakly, suddenly seeming a lot calmer than before. "Well, that's... cool I guess. I've never met another reborn before... Heard rumours about them from my stupid ex-flock, but never met another one. Umm... Did you just see something weird..? I'm not sure but..." Her eyes glazed slightly and I winced, aware that her current state was probably my fault.

"I'm guessing you saw a girl get stabbed, right?" I gulped as Wolf's eyes lit up with shock. "That girl was actually me; I got stabbed in the back while on my way to pick up groceries." I blushed for a moment when I realised how un-epic my demise had actually been, then blinked as Wolf shot me a harsh look.

"Why the heck would I have a vision of you biting the dust? I'm not a fricking psychic!" Wolf's narrowed eyes glinted with suspicion, "Explain all this shit right now!"

I gulped nervously and nodded, back away slightly. "Ummm... Well you see, earlier, we locked eyes, and apparently whenever two reborns lock eyes they swap the memories of how they died with the other person. It's sort of like a way for us reborns to find each other more quickly..." I trailed off as Wolf glared at me in mix of horror and rage, the feathers on her head and neck bristling so much they made her look twice the size she actually was.

"You saw my memories?" Sensing I'd just crossed the line, I started backing away.

"Yes, but it wasn't on purpose or anything-AHH!" I shrieked as Wolf swooped over peaking and raking at me with her beak and talons.

"YOU LITTLE-? Forget it! FORGET EVERYTHING YOU JUST SAW! Now! I don't want anyone to know what happened back then! GIVE MY MEMORIES BACK! Now! Now! Now! Now! Now!" Each shout of 'Now!' was punctuated with a sharp peck to my head, which were all unbelievably painful.  
Desperate to avoid being pecked to death, I dashed away and shot the mad bird a helpless expression. "Look! I'm sorry, ok? I didn't mean to see your memories or anything, and it's not like I can just forget about what I saw on purpose-" Wolf interrupted with a loud shrill bird call and immediately the area was bathed in a bright sharp light.

"I'LL MAKE YOU FORGET IT THEN!" A voice much deeper than the one I heard seconds before rang out as the light expanded then disappeared, revealing Wolf in all her new Swellow glory.

"...oh crud buckets..."

_**...**_

_**Notes**__**: *Chikorita have the ability to sense changes of temperature with their head leaves.**_

_**...**_

_**Yay! I've finished the chapter! **_

_**But things are getting interesting, huh? Chi's sending e-mails under the name of 'Blue', Wolf's a reborn AND she's evolved already, Raven's an ex-mistreated lab starter, and Gold does way too much for you average 16 year old. ^^;**_

_**...Truth is, I was actually planning on adding more to this chapter, but this seemed like a good place to end it.  
But anyhow, there'll be a gym battle next chapter. Any guesses on how this battle between Gold and Silver will end? Also, can you guess which character/s from previous chapters will show up? I have more of those invisible cookies for correct answers~ **_

_**Again, a big thank you to all those who donated or tried to donate OCs, and Special thanks to **__**ShadoWolfDemon**__** who donated/inspired Wolf. Please look up her fanfics; they are under loved.**_

_**Anyway, that's all I can really think of so, Please R&R and I'll get onto starting chapter 8 right away!**_

_**Lil'Raven signing out~ X3**_


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